Worldwar: Missionaries Down to Earth
by AlbertG
Summary: The Race has been freed from from the grip of Colonial conquest in less than two weeks. The writing is on the wall and now The people of Kobol must make nice with monotheistic Earth. How can they do that? Well, send missionaries! Book III-Colonials to the 13th colony, er Earth!
1. Chapter 1

14

WorldWar: Missionaries Down to Earth (Book Three)

Story: WorldWar: Missionary Work  
>Category: Stargate SG-1 and Battlestar Galactica 2003 Genre: Sci-FiFantasy  
>Author: AlbertG and RenS<p>

Summary: The 'Race', and the Colonials of Cyrannus each tried to conquer Earth. They both failed. The Race has a new colony now. The Colonials haven't finished yet. But they were very respectful of Earth to the point where Earth people need to be saved from themselves and their ignorance of the One God.

**NOTICE: THIS STORY MAY BE DISTRIBUTED FREE OF CHARGE BUT MUST NOT BE SOLD OR EXCHANGED FOR FINANCIAL RETURN IN ANY FORM.**

**-COPYRIGHT/DISCLAIMER NOTICE-**

**"**_**Stargate", "Stargate SG-1", and "Stargate: Atlantis" **_**and all related**_** Stargate **_** related material, its characters and certain technological devices and/or references to such, from the television shows and movies, may be or are registered trademarks of, and may be or are copyrighted by MGM and whatever Corporation it may or may not be owned by.**

"_**WorldWar"**_** and the "**_**Worldwar related books"**_**, its characters, certain technological devices and/or references to such, from the book series, past present of near future, are a registered trademarks of its creator/author Harry Turtledove and the publisher Del Rey Books. Characters, names, and all related material are trademarks to those stated above.**

**Only certain characters and technologies are mine and these are the creation of the author who is solely responsible for them as such. Neither Studio nor Harry Turtledove nor Del Rey books are responsible for the content of this story.**

_**"Battlestar Galactica, the Re-imagining"**_** by Ronald Moore, its characters, and certain technological devices and/or references to such, from the television show, may be or are registered trademarks of its parent studio and corporation. **

THIS STATEMENT MUST ACCOMPANY THE STORY '_WORLDWAR: THE BALANCE DESTROYED_. IF DISTRIBUTED. THIS STORY IS FREE OF CHARGE AND MAY NOT BE SOLD OR EXCHANGED FOR FINANCIAL RETURN IN ANY FORM. THIS DEDICATION MUST ACCOMPANY ANY DISTRUBUTION OF THIS STORY.

Dedication: Bless my wife and the girls most of whom are now out of my house and they keep coming back with gifts!

Again, thank you, Harry Turtledove for writing such an intriguing series. I can't do it justice but I will merely try to make what I write interesting, with as few editing errors as I can.

And finally, this is an official AU of Ash Boomstick's (Bob Regent) story called RAAB located on this website. I was given permission to use it as a background. I recommend that you read his story to get a feel of SG-1 and nBSG and the disagreements they have with one another.

'_Be it therefore known to all, that this will be a somewhat darker tongue-in-cheek book. The missionary work will be somewhat serious and not necessarily stereotyped as some have hope for. I am trying for a more serious approach here as I continue the story. No Iblison for now. Bobby Kinsey Junior will start to make his presence known. The rating will be the same so everyone can read it.'_

Note: This begins at the same time Cain, Adar and his people were at the conference. This is not a combat driven story so beware. 'Missionaries down to Earth' will focus on the missionaries for the most part. Not mentioned but there are Earth missionaries on their way to the Colonies but it will not be discussed or be the focus in this story. At this point everyone is settling in to the new reality of things in the galaxy. Also note there will be a lot of newscasts in the background keeping everyone up on the current state of Earth and the situation with the Lucians and the Astorath Lords. The Earth as a whole does NOT know about the Race and no one is telling the Colonials about Earth's relations with the Race. Please enjoy.

**RenS is co-author to this story. In fact the first chapter is 90% his and I will give credit where credit is due. Take care. AlbertG**

**This is now a separate story from WW: The Balance Destroyed**

**Important Dates**

**_This timeline is AU from the original SG series and several years ahead of Bob Regent's Reunion story of which this is a variation of-with his permission:_**

_-May 2009: Failed Wraith invasion of Earth._

_-May 2014. Disgraced Vice-President Robert Kinsey Sr. was declared missing and presumed dead_

_-July 2014: Prometheus inadvertently has first contact with the Colonials of Kobol. Doesn't go well. The Earth vessel escapes and the Colonials have no idea where Earth is located. _

_-March 2018: Invasion of the Race by the Conquest fleet._

_-Feb 2016: the Colonia-Cylon war ended with the Cylon defeat. Several small Cylon fleets survive and fled. Over the course of two years all but two basestars were tracked down and destroyed. _

_-March of 2018: Two surviving Cylon ships, after months of relentless attacks, mistakenly entered the Sol system. One ship blows up due to damages as it exits its jump. The refugees are offered sanctuary. _

_-March 2018: The battle of Sol (Earth's name of the battle against the Colonial invasion) Colonials call it the 'Great Calamity'. For three years, Earth and the Colonials have been in a state of very cool relations._

_-December 2020: The Tollanians destroy several Colonial warships in the Home system. Priest Iblison orders the slaughter of the Lizardian leadership and nukes Home in retaliation for being forced from Home. The Colonial leadership is unaware of the deeds done by the Priest._

_-March 2021: Terran and Race soldiers begin military games and training together._

_-March 21, 2021. Colonial missionaries are given the go to come to Earth. Representatives are quickly chosen. Instead of young people as intended, most of the missionaries are older members of the Synod. This is the day of the interstellar summit. Adar comes as Ambassador to International relations._

_-April 23, 2021: Speech by Colonial President Antonio Goesel._

_May 2021: official signing of the Terran-Race treaty._

_-Current date **March 2021**. Day one of the summit and arrival of the Colonial missionaries to Earth._

_**Missionaries Down to Earth**_

_**Chapter 1**_

The cylindrical shuttle flew above the field of clouds, its flight path was well away from commercial lanes so there was no danger of collision. The ancient designed shuttle was moving quickly and soon the full moon made the puffy vista shine blue-white. On board, two pilots from the American Air Force flew the puddle jumper and ignored the quiet hubbub of the twelve passengers sitting in the back. It was a bit cramped back there as the puddle-jumper wasn't designed for so many people but then this was a short term taxi ride, not a long-distance commute.

"Think they'll change their minds when they see it?" Captain Rodgers quietly asked.

The co-pilot glanced at his partner and shrugged. "Don't know. Don't care. But I'll laugh at whatever mistakes they make."

"That's assuming you care enough to look them up and keep track of their activities."

"Yeah." The co-pilot shrugged again. "Like I said, don't care. I don't know why these people were even invited to Earth after what they tried to do."

"Ours is not to reason why."

"Yes, sir."

The pilot nodded as he eased the puddle jumper slightly downward at the clouds.

* * *

><p>One of the twelve passengers kept his eyes glued on the large window at the bow from the back of the puddle jumper. "That moon…."<p>

Tyberi Patrenus resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Linus, that moon is nothing like Minos over Tauron or Hibernia over Virgon, much less like Gemenon seen from Caprica. Why, these Apellai have only several bases on the moon, not even a small city." For all their powerful warships, this world isn't even advanced enough to have outposts or settlements in their star system," the priest sniffed. "They're not even taking advantage of the system's resources beyond their own world!"

One of the priestesses nodded. "That's true. The Apellai lack the light to show the way. For this reason, the Synod has sent them us, the best and brightest in the Colonies."

Another priestess arched an eyebrow. "Don't you mean Livia, Lucy?"

"Elosha, she is only one of the twelve in the College of Pontiffs, or the Synod if one preferred that term," admonished Lucy.

The corners of Elosha's lips curled as she pressed them in exasperation. Why in the name of the gods had Livia picked Lucy to come on perhaps the greatest journey any Colonial had undertaken in the last thousand years? Her attitude might easily insult these Apellai, no Earth People, she corrected, or worse. Who knows how they would respond? They weren't Colonials after all; not after thousands of years of separation. They needed to be careful and observant if they wanted to get anywhere with these people. Almost absent-mindedly, she made sure that her wide stole was properly draped down from her neck over the harness holding her in her seat.

"We are supposed to be brothers and sisters, are we not? So let's be honest, Lucy Ferro. It's Livia who sent us."

Lucy narrowed her eyes at that. "Why were you chosen to go with us?"

_I see we understand each other_ thought Elosha. "Likely because I know the Sacred Scrolls inside and out and I've served in the Quorum of Twelve for twenty years before President Adar's second term." The priestess turned to Tyberi. "And another thing, Tyberi: These people prefer to be called Terrans. The President and the Quorum agreed on this before we left. If we don't want to step on any toes, we'd better remember that, "she said quietly in Caprican standard. She wasn't sure if the Terrans could understand her but she didn't want to take a chance of offending their pilots.

The clerics all looked at Tyberi to see what his reaction would be. Only the oracle Dodona Selloi kept her eyes closed as she slouched against the wall in her gray robe and blue turban. It was well known that oracles preferred to be alone. Still, Elosha's admonishment hung in the air like a sword.

The puddle jumper jumped ever so slightly as it plowed into thicker parts of the clouds impressing several of the visitors. Those experienced with air travel expected much more turbulence than they were experiencing traveling through atmosphere such as this. Tyberi took advantage of the moment to look away at the darkness enveloping the bow window, ignoring Elosha.

"This planet is infected with the idea of the so-called One True God," he whispered. The way it was said reeked of contempt and perhaps a bit of fear. He glanced over at their pilots who seemed oblivious to the conversation. "That belief had thrown the Colonies into war with terrorists and Cylons. Though we might not like these people, they are a cousin tribe. But let us not forget that we're in very dangerous, alien territory." He looked around at the twelve priests and priestesses chosen to bring the word of the Lords of Kobol to Earth and learn of Earth's primary languages and religion. "Perhaps it's time we sing," he continued at normal volume.

Singing was good and it could perhaps interest the pilots into asking questions about the meaning of the sacred words they were being blessed with for the first time.

There was a barely audible groan from several of the clerics. A stern-faced priestess spoke up before anyone else could say anything. "Well, that depends: Would you prefer cremation or burial by airlock?"

Several of the priests and priestesses struggled to suppress a snicker. Tyberi glared at the woman who merely stared back with a blank face. He wanted to put her in her place but Antonia Ursula Silva was a close friend and confidante of Livia Sytomia. Elosha may have been impudent but she was right about Livia being _the_ Synod instead of the Synod. It did not pay to have enemies in high places. It was perhaps fortunate that he was saved by the puddle jumper finally coming out the bottom of the clouds, thus providing the distraction of the city visible below.

It was a _huge_ city; that much was clear. Lights shone everywhere on the towers and skyscrapers, reflected on the glass siding of some skyscrapers and continued as far as the eyes could see. Nearly solid light made straight lines of the city's streets, which were themselves straight rivers of white and red lights of moving vehicles. The part of the city they were approaching was clearly on an island as the black water glittered with reflected lights at the shores and under the bridges. Almost in the center of it all rose a tall tower that tapered to a point at the top.

It was a city that could have graced Caprica. This first appearance of New York City had an immediate and lasting effect on each of them. Near a particularly towering skyscraper, twin pillars of light shone straight up into the cloudy January night sky. Tyberi and the other clerics could see that the pillars of light were capable of being seen from miles away. One of the Terran pilots spoke and his translator made the words understandable to the missionaries. He was perfectly professional.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are above New York City." The pilot pointed at the pillars of light.

_How embarrassing! They could understand us!_ thought Elosha. Immediately she admonished herself for losing control like that as she continued listening to the one speaking.

"That's the World Trade Center's Freedom Tower and those lights are part of the 9/11 Memorial."

One of the priests jotted notes on his paper notebook. "The 9/11 Memorial?"

Tyberi smiled. Trust the intellectual Luke Rhettus to have a notebook available to use on a shuttle.

The male Terran glanced back over his shoulder. "Twenty years ago, some religious terrorists flew airplanes into the twin towers of the old World Trade Center and killed thousands. For that, we went to war in the Middle East."

Luke Rhettus furiously scribbled in his notebook as fast as he could while Tyberi quietly tsk-tsked to himself. As the Colonies learned to their sorrow before and during the First Cylon War, monotheism encouraged terrorism and it appeared that Earth was not immune to that lesson either. It was puzzling that the Terrans would stick with monotheism despite the barbarity it had obviously spawned. And if they went to war did they crush offenders so that this wouldn't happen again? Tyberi mentally shrugged. Some people would stick to ideas and beliefs despite the evidence of their incompatibility. It was well that they were coming to show how the Lords of Kobol could provide salvation from that particular horror.

The cloaked puddle jumper flew past the pillars of light shining in tribute to 9/11 and dipped down toward the round southern point of Manhattan Island. The shuttle eased down upon a pier jutting out into the harbor and settled on the concrete tarmac. The pilot spoke again as a slight thump announced that the shuttle had touched down.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have landed in the Downtown Manhattan Heliport. Please wait while we lower the hatch." The ship decloaked a moment before the rear hatch began to open and the passengers never noticed a thing.

The Colonial clerics watched as the stern hatch open and lower down to the tarmac. Most of them shivered as the cold January air rushed in, fluttering robes and stoles. The Terran pilots took off their harness and stood up, which was the signal for the clerics to take off their own harnesses, stand and reach for their luggage stowed in the netting above them and on the deck between the benches.

This marked the first time that Colonial priests set foot on the planet Earth. This momentous event was marked by a comment from Tyberi Patrenus:

"New friends. Yay," he deadpanned.

Elosha held onto her stole as the cold winter wind blew in from the harbor, bit into her and whipped her robe when she stepped down the ramp made by the lowered hatch. Tyberi was still as much of a jerk as ever.

Linus Abner muttered resentfully as he held his flat round hat on his head, "A fine time for us to be here in this weather while Admiral Cain and Ambassador Adar and his wife are on a tropical island somewhere south on this gods-forsaken planet."

The pilots led the clerics up the pier toward a two storied building. The city's skyscrapers completely overshadowed the heliport building. Cars hummed back and forth on the street between the heliport and the skyscrapers. There was a convoy of two limousines waiting at the end of the pier before the heliport building. Chauffeurs briskly went to open doors for the clerics who chose limos on the fly and piled in.

Elosha raised her eyebrows at the glow on some of the limo's interior siding. When she looked closely, she saw that the glow showed some menu options for drink and music. When she touched the surface, she found that it was glass and the menu moved with her finger. The interior siding doubled as touch screens, it seemed. Not knowing what to do with the menu options, she ignored them as did the other clerics.

As soon as the clerics were settled in, the hydrogen powered limos hummed and drove in a line besides the heliport building. A police escort was waiting in front of the building. The police motorcycles and cars immediately took positions in front of and behind the limo convoy, siren lights flashing and strobing.

It so very much reminded the passengers of Caprica and Picon.

The clerics couldn't help straining their necks to look up at the buildings of New York through the limo windows and the sunroof panel. Only Dodona remained with her eyes closed and Ursula deigned only to cast glances at the sights without turning her head. Yellow taxicabs appeared to be everywhere in the streets. Several buildings that were completely covered in glass blared towering advertisements in smooth motions.

"Tacky," sniffed Julian Soter.

Elosha shrugged. "We do the same thing."

Nikko Demos haughtily said, "these Terrans don't have anything like the Millennium Tower in Caprica City."

"Too bad the Terrans rejected unification with the Colonies," said Ursula. "With our resources, wealth and technology, who knows what could be achieved on this world?"

Some of the clerics nodded in agreement.

Elosha kept her comments to herself otherwise she might have slapped one of them and if this attitude continued it wasn't going to end well.

* * *

><p>Soon, the motorcade slid down a double avenue divided by a wide median of trees and flowers. The cars slowed as they approached a large building. Above the canopied entryway were two flag poles hutting out from gilded eagles on the building's wall. Each pole had a flag hanging from it, waving in the wind. One was the American flag and the other was a purple gold-fringed flag with the gold stylized phoenix of the United Colonies of Kobol.<p>

Near the door were two men who reeked of being security, respectfully nodded in their direction. Earth security, no doubt and this was confirmed when one of the men introduced and identified himself and just as quickly moved back to his position of carefully watching for any possible threat.

"Glad to see these people respect us," Tyberi commented.

"They want to keep us safe," Ursula said matter-of fact. "They're our shadows for the duration of our stay here."

Between the flag poles, gilded letters flanked by two gilded enthroned women carved into the wall announced the building to be the Waldorf Astoria.

A couple men, each dressed in a black suit and tie, a dark grey warm coat, cap and white gloves stepped forward to open and hold the limo doors for the clerics. Bellhops in similar suits but distinguished by their flat-topped hats rushed forward with gilded luggage carts and immediately took the clerics' bags and cases from the limos. As the clerics gathered together under the bright lights of the canopy, the hotel concierge stepped forward. He was tall, mustachioed and as immaculately dressed in a black suit with a gold nametag on a breast but lacking a hat or gloves. When he spoke, he had a clipped accent that sounded to the clerics to be similar to what highly educated Capricans and Virgons used. Because of their translators given them by the Terrans, they understood him. Unfortunately, man didn't understand them.

Tyberi and Ursula stepped forward. The priest said, "you'll take us to our rooms."

The concierge was puzzled and indicated that he didn't understand Tyberi. Ursula rolled her eyes and said impatiently, "You. We. Go. Rooms."

The concierge looked down his nose at the priestess and spoke rapidly in annoyed Englisa to the Colonials' consternation. Elosha discreetly nudged Tyberi who was completely clueless and pointed at one of his pockets that held the translator. Embarrassed, the priest took it out and re-activated it. He hated the things as they reminded him of precursors to Cylon technology, he had to admit they were useful for now. "We are the Colonial priests sent here to—"

There was dawning comprehension on the concierge's face. "Oh, the _Colonials_! I'm sorry, I _thought_ there was something wrong with you." He looked down at the little device in Tyberi's hand. "Good of you to use the Queen's English! Splendid! Splendid! Ah, please allow me to introduce myself. I am the concierge of the Waldorf Astoria and my name is Basil Lewrick but you will call me Mr. LerwickOnly my wife and I are on a first-name basis, you understand." Basil delicately cleared his throat to change the subject. "May I welcome your war—your war—your—you all…yes, you all, and hope that your stay will be a happy one. Now, would you like to eat first, or would you like a drink before the war—ahh, err…umm, sorry…sorry."

The Colonials stared at the faulty concierge as Basil coughed delicately into a fist and waved his hands impatiently for the bellhops to cart the luggage into the hotel. Without the translator, she could barely understand the man. Practicing the American language and actually speaking it were two entirely different things.

Tyberi's lips pulled into a small sneer. "We'll go to our rooms, thank you, Mr. Lerwick," he said in broken English.

Basil gave a curt nod and extended hands toward the gold-framed doors of the hotel with a slight bow.

Tyberi remained standing and staring at the concierge. Elosha softly nudged him and whispered, "He's inviting us to go with him."

"How do you know that?" he asked condescendingly.

"Because he's…" Elosha imitated the concierge's gesture with condescension. "…inviting us to go with him."

Tyberi scowled sourly at her but he nodded and started walking, leading the other clerics through doors held open by the capped and white-gloved doormen.

Just beyond the doors, steps took the Colonials up to the foyer level above the doors. A massive crystal and gold chandelier hung from the ceiling of the white marble square-pillared room directly above a mosaic floor. Through a doorway in each side of the foyer, they could see more similarly opulently appointed rooms and hallways with chandeliers. The clerics gaped for a moment before they had to follow Mr. Lerwick through a doorway to the lobby itself. In the center of the lobby stood an antique opulent brown and gold clock stand. Black marble square fluted pillars with gold edges broke the view of brown wood walls and white-gold ornamented ceiling.

Any city on Caprica would be proud to have such Art Deco opulence in a hotel.

The clerics were led down a gallery of chandeliers to a row of elevators. The fact that the silver elevator doors were also Art Deco works of art raised some eyebrows. Two goddesses appeared to be leaning back to back in a circle in the center of the elevator doors while playing or tuning musical instruments.

Ursula shook her head as she whispered, "Such wealth..."

Tyberi agreed. "They are trying to impress us but this only tells me that the rulers of Earth are exploiting the unfortunate masses of this world. It is fortunate that we've come at this time to save them."

"You don't know that! We can't assume that!"

Luke Rhettus nervously said, "What about our luggage?"

Tyberi relayed the question to Mr. Lerwick who waved down a bellhop.

"Manuel! Come here. Have you taken our guests' luggage up to their rooms?"

"¿Si?"

Mr. Lerwick's face tightened. Elosha could tell that this wasn't the first time the concierge was impatient with a bellhop or with this particular bellhop. Manuel's accent sounded different and he seemed to be speaking a different language altogether although the translator made him understandable. They really were going to have to actively practice.

The concierge threw an exasperated look at the clerics. "I do apologize. He's from Barcelona, Spain." He turned to the bellhop and gritted through his teeth, "Manuel. The luggage. Where is it?"

"Ah, si?"

"Where are the bags?"

"¿Qué?"

With supreme patience, Mr. Lerwick said, "Donde es…bolsas?"

Manuel flashed a bright grin. "Oh, the bellboys take it. The boys take bags upstairs. Si, they did it." He nodded vigorously. "The bags are there now."

Mr. Lerwick smiled serenely. "Manuel, come here."

The bellhop stepped close to the concierge. "Si."

The concierge hissed at him, "you are a waste of space." He turned to the clerics, smiling brightly this time. "Manuel will show you to your room—if you're lucky." With that, Mr. Lerwick made a hasty retreat back to the lobby.

Tyberi eyed the bellhop with heavy doubt. The 'bellhop as most likely security pretending to be a menial. But when he spoke, the translator helped enormously. Manuel the bellhop was delighted and machine-gunned some comments at the priest. All the priest could catch was that the man called Manuel he wished his boss could get everyone translators because there's so many foreign workers here and they'd make communication so much easier and smoother.

Apparently, New York City was sometimes called the Crossroads of the World so various languages and nationalities were represented here, as Manuel had told them. Many of the clerics nodded to each other at that. One planet and that meant they'd be able to get diverse perspectives on the Terran religion and their word of the Lords of Kobol would reach out from the city to all other regions of the planet. Meanwhile, the wood-paneled elevators took them up to the towers of the Waldorf Astoria.

When Manuel opened the double doors into the clerics' set of suites, the Colonials gasped. They gaped and gawked as they went into the hotel apartment. The rooms were all well-appointed with ornate wood furniture, chandeliers, framed paintings, crown molding, plaster molding on the walls, plush upholstered seating, framed mirrors over fireplaces, and fine antique curios. The set of suites had a shocking and breathtaking luxury and familiar comfort on par with the best hotels and mansions in Caprica City, and the ornamentation wouldn't be out of place in the palaces of Boskirk, Virgon or of Luminere, Leonis.

Nikko nervously leaned over to Tyberi smiling. "Just to make sure: Who's paying for all this?"

"The Americana North Englasia government. And the quorum interstellar account, and the Synod, of course."

Nikko's relieved smile broadened. He shook his head while the other clerics went off to lay claim to bedrooms and Ms. Selloi went in search of the smallest bedroom with a single bed so she could be alone. Nikko looked out a curtained window at the night vista of New York City. They were very high up in the hotel building so that they could see skyscrapers marching all the way to the horizon. The twin pillars of light still shone and stabbed into the cloudy sky. "Such luxury. And we're only missionaries! The Terrans really have squeezed riches off of the masses of this world."

Manuel grinned as he led Tyberi, Ursula and Elosha into the central lounge. He pointed at what looked like a stack of clear thick plastic sheets on a table. He spoke in Spanish but the translator obligingly did its job. "The government has been kind enough to have us provide e-papers for all of you. In them, you'll find instructions and menu options for whatever you need here." He picked up a sheet which turned out to be stiff but bendable. "It's not really paper even though we call it e-paper. It's just very flexible smart glass. You can try out any of the options listed. For instance…." He tapped the surface of the stiff transparent sheet twice and the Waldorf Astoria logo glowed into existence and then faded into a list of menu options. Manuel tapped one of the options and the large framed mirror over the fireplace became a framed television screen showing a news anchor speaking. Unlike televisions in the Colonies, the screen looked absolutely crisp, smooth and real. It didn't look flat at all and there was none of the annoying reflection glare.

"I envy you, sirs," added Manuel. "They use UHD TVs here. Ultra-high definition, top of the line, yes sir**.** Your bedrooms each have one, not like those new holo-projection TVs they're selling in Korea and Japan these days, though. Oh, if you feel you need to block out the light from outside…." A tap on the sheet caused the windows to fade to total black, blocking out the lights of New York City outside. Another tap cleared the windows again. The bellhop put the thick sheet back down on the table. "Well. I'll leave you to it. Don't worry about messing up. Maid service, food service, everything is on the menu. You can take the e-papers with you outside to assist in the sightseeing. Just be sure to return them when you sign out of here."

He led them to the dining room. The table was large enough to seat all twelve of the clerics. There was a bowl of some type of food cradled in a lettuce leaf. Empty glasses stood nearby each bowl and two pitchers of iced water, fogged and dewed with cold, stood ready.

"What's…_that_?" Tyberi bent over to take a close look at what appeared to be a mess of chopped fruit and nuts in a white sauce.

"The hotel wishes to make you feel welcome with its own signature dish, the Waldorf salad. Apples, walnuts, celery, and grapes in a mayonnaise dressing. Genetically cleared of all possible allergens, of course, so it's completely safe."

Tyberi still looked at the mayonnaise dish dubiously, mentally comparing it to fungus.

Manuel turned to go. Elosha reached out for him. "Wait. What about keys?"

"Oh, I forgot. Well, each of you must press a hand on an e-paper for it to read your fingerprints. The doorknobs will get the fingerprint reading and that will be your key to get in the suite. Well, enjoy your stay!"

"Thank you." Elosha gave him some cubits as a tip as he departed. When she turned back around, she saw that Tyberi and Ursula were giving each other a worried look.

"They're really network-integrated here," said Ursula. She looked disturbed.

"Yes, and more advanced than we expected. Rather like Caprica before the First Cylon War."

"And we know that Cylon refugees have fled here. You don't think Earth has used them and advanced to the point where they could build their own Cylons?"

"No, they can't be that advanced yet, can they?"

"Look at this e-paper" Tyberi said. "We've all seen some of their movies about artificial intelligence. Just from those programs and being aware of our experiences, they should know better."

"But they use the words artificial life forms, not artificial intelligence," corrected Linus. They look at things differently." He shrugged. "Only time will tell."

As some of the clerics drifted back into the central living room, Ursula said loudly, "It's late, brothers and sisters. We should say our prayers together and go to bed. We have a long day tomorrow!"

* * *

><p>Elosha Gale yawned as she reluctantly pulled herself up from the extremely comfortable pillow and mattress. The sheets felt like a type of silk. These people were so much like hers but the subtle differences and those differences had to be discovered if this mission was to succeed.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

_**CHAPTER TWO**_

_**(quick note: The time line is different than the original SG-1 by several years. Most of the same things happened but further down the line. This is about 7 years further than RAAB. The characters are aged accordingly from this time line. not the canon or RAABverse. See chapter 1 for the timeline.) AG**_

_**Earth-New York**_

_**Hotel Waldorf Astoria **_

_**Time 3:00AM**_

Despite the proclamation, Antonia Ursula Silva, who preferred to be called by her middle name Ursula, discovered that tonight, she was a little too energized to sleep. It wasn't because she was in an alien hotel on an alien world. Her room, accommodations, and bedroom was perfect, but she was simply too wired to rest. She was just so thankful being one of the blessed ones, picked to come to Earth at the last second. Being here on Earth was the culmination of her dreams as well as fantasy and gods, she wished her husband was here with her to help make the dream even more real for her.

Almost no one believed the planet or its people existed until three years ago. Yes, the Government knew about Earth some seven years earlier with the First Contact debacle, but they kept it secret until they could spin it a way that would have allowed them to be seen in a positive light. All of those plans of course fell into the waste bin when the CDF literally got their behinds handed to them in the most spectacular and public way possible. It was a humiliation for the Colonies. Many political, not to mention military heads rolled. But to believers it was a dream come true. Many believed the discovery of the Thirteenth Tribe at that time was the will of the gods and that such a defeat occurred because the gods were in effect telling the Quorum and the CDF that it was wrong to attack their long lost brothers and sisters. The Colonials would suffer punishment because of their actions and they had at the hands of an inferior force.

The Earthers were still an ignorant people in the ways of the gods and unaware of their true heritage. What was needed by them were explanations and teachings to show them the way, not the Quorum's methods of using guns and missiles to force the will of the gods upon them. At least that was the original belief of so many of her contemporaries, including herself. What she and most of the others here expected, was that despite their almost obscene technological advances, the people on the planet were somehow primitive, subservient, its people suffering under the yolk of oppression and poverty, controlled by their cruel and arrogant Tau'ri overlords. That was another fantasy that she really believed in her heart was true. She _wanted_ it to be true. However, one look at this almost Colonial-like city they were in immediately disproved some of her own personal prejudices. The city was huge, on par with Caprica City and there were cities like this across the world.

Just traveling to the hotel showed the diversity and numbers of the people walking and riding to wherever they were going or whatever they were doing. Aircraft filled the skies, automobiles (which looked remarkably like those they had at home) covered the city. Huge skyscrapers dotted the sky. Apellai, (or Terran, she reminded herself) possessed communications /entertainment avenues that were simply breathtaking. No pyramid shapes so common to the Colonies, but still the city beautiful in its own way.

The people here were so diverse that when she first saw them, she didn't fully understand what she was seeing. At home, each colony was more or less easily identifiable by the distinctive culture of its people. Here it was as if all of the different people of the colonies had been clumped together and then thrown into the wind just to see what it would look like.

However, it was their telecommunications system that had convinced her that she had severely misjudged these Earth people; the incredibly small phones everyone seemed to carry, the television analogs that had such incredible clarity and the variety of foods proved beyond that her fellow being contemporaries were wrong in their initial assumptions. At least from her admittedly very short duration on Earth of a few hours, these people didn't act like they were persecuted because of their religious beliefs. It was hard to persecute and control people when calls could be placed to any part of the world by hand-held communications devices that did everything but walk on their own. She wasn't surprised though that the phone devices didn't have real time video. That was a failure in the Colonies, too. No one wanted to be seen with food on their teeth, or their hair in a mess, or something hanging from their noses, or perhaps someone in the background who shouldn't be there…_But that was the key!_ Easy communication and connectivity to a continuing knowledge and informational database they called the internet was the secret.

Persecuted people had a look about them that these people didn't have as far as she could tell. Of course, all of this could be a ruse, but such a deception couldn't possibly last just to impress a few Colonials who intended to remain here on this religiously barbaric world for a few years. These people had unimagined access to hand-held, master computron-class devices that you could do just about anything, and it could phone home.

Sleep fled from her. Defeated, she threw off the covers and slipped out of the bed. Up now, she yawned, which had the unfortunate effect of removing the last of her tiredness instead of the reverse, and grabbed her rob quickly putting in on. Opening the thick luscious drapes, and looking out the huge window, she stifled herself from gasping at the sight. The scene outside was so similar to her home that there was almost no difference. The entire sky was bright with millions of lights, even in the middle of the night the streets had throngs of people, many of the couples walking around as if they didn't have a care in the world. From first impressions Ambassador Agasha Saltum seemed to be right; these people were a lot more complex than first believed. They weren't starving, nor were they suffering from any overt yolk of oppression. Just barely surviving her foot; first impressions seemed to say that they were doing quite well, thank you very much.

Being separated from their fellow Colonials hadn't hurt them; in truth, quite the reverse. These people were thriving in spite of being isolated. The whole world might not be like this but where she was now gave the impression that these people were just as free as any Colonial. It was as if they had no need for their Colonial brothers and sisters. They had survived and thrived in their loneness. The question she wanted to know was – why?

The information she needed in order to answer this and a thousand other questions was at her fingertips. The technological instrument of seduction was probably smiling at her, the huge screen beckoning her like her husband on a dark and stormy night (and hopefully, he would be allowed to join her as soon as possible). It was too early right now to even ask. Colonial and Terran relations weren't great and no one wanted to aggravate anyone at this delicate time; but maybe soon he could come and join her here. Putting those thoughts away, she found herself touching the remote screen. Immediately, the large HDTV screen came to life, almost frightening her with its speed and purity of image. It had been patiently been waiting for her, she realized and she couldn't resist it anymore. In front of her was the secret of the Terrans.

_The internet - an alien source of attraction and loathing. _

Most Colonials wouldn't even touch the screen. Ingrained memories of the Cylons and their fearsome computer abilities still unsettled her people. AIs were evil, plain and simple, and needed to be destroyed so that they wouldn't turn upon their masters and slaughter them. Earth people didn't have that fear having never been exposed to that naked horror. But according to all reports, the internet that literally blanketed this planet with information was not AI controlled. It was smart but not in an artificial intelligence type of way as she understood it. The internet couldn't think for itself.

Even so, she was cautious and suspicious but the Terran internet contained everything she needed to begin to understand these people if she would just use it, something she resolved to do right now.

"Religion," she said in Caprican standard and then frowned as Americana Englisa script filled the scree making her twitch in irritation. She somewhat understood the language when she heard it but hadn't had much experience in reading their alien language. There were several thousand entries but none of it was readable. The written language mocked her, although the huge screen's audio spoke to her in standard Caprican. She didn't even need her translator. Clever Earth people, anticipating something like this.

This was not helping.

"Zeus," she said.

Again the same script came up but another script came up as well. It looked eerily similar to the old Kobollian she barely learned to read in in her early college studies. Her heart fluttered in excitement. What was that language these people called it again? Ah, yes. "_Langua Greekie_," she repeated.

The screen change from English to Greek and she smiled. She had a basis in order to start. It wasn't perfect by any means but it wasn't completely alien, either.

Now she use the word in Caprican again. "Θρησκεία."

This time the huge numbers of entries appeared in a language that she was able to comprehend. Furthermore the internet was speaking to her in Caprican, so she could understand as well as see what the entries said.

_It was so easy and convenient._

By the gods, she could get used to this and it only took a few minutes to be seduced by this wondrous technology despite being aware of the dangers that came with it. In just a few moments she had discovered an enormous amount of information.

In the Colonies, this type of information would be of enormous value. In fact, the things that they had seen and experienced in just this first few hours would have Colonial companies and manufacturers salivating in their desire to reach these markets. She frowned in thought as she began to piece things together. The College of Pontiffs and the religious community in general were outraged when they heard of the Thirteenth Colony's tendencies towards monotheism from a Doctor Jackson, when the disastrous first contact with their ship the _Prometheus_ happened. But the government saw things differently. They saw the technology and weapons the small ship possessed. They saw the ship had no need for tyllium, having a completely unknown power source that could be a gods-send for the Colonies. But when the _Prometheus_ escaped, the CDF had no idea where they came from until, the Cylons and then Colonials accidently discovered Earth. However before that, the Quorum knew about Earth and its potential and wanted it badly. The 'Great Calamity' battle in the Apellai/Sol system turned Earths' potentially rich markets into a threat they couldn't ignore.

Ursula now strongly believed that the corporations at home had absolutely no idea of what they might be stepping into. All of them expected Earth to be mesmerized by amazing Colonial products flooding their markets when the opposite might well be true. The priestess could easily see the entertainment, computer-computron-communications technologies taking the Colonies by storm. Their TVs would dominate the markets at home. Their rich varieties of food would hammer the food industries although she believed there the Colonies could hold their own. The one thing that Earth didn't have were flying automobiles, which in her opinion might well be a blessing if it were to be judged by what happened in Colonial history.

What a mess that was.

Overall, the implications were very worrisome. Religious convictions aside, Terran commercial and military markets could easily overwhelm the Colonial markets instead of the other way around as the Quorum were assuming. And they were advancing so fast!

_What have we gotten ourselves into?_ She hand only been here a full day and she could see the handwriting on the wall.

_**Morning**_

Elosha Gale was snuggled into the queen-size bed when the large UHD ultrathin frameless TV screen on the wall slowly woke up with a very soft red-purple glow. The time 6:59 AM was steadily shown in the middle of the glow. The time shifted into 7:00 AM and the TV emitted the sound of birdsongs and the blackened windows in Elosha's room faded into transparency, letting in the morning sunlight.

The priestess groaned. It was supremely comfortable and warm in bed and the motivation not to move was nigh irresistible. However, she remembered that today was going to be the first long day she'd have on Earth. Sighing, she sat up with a yawn. She touched her frosted glass surface of her e-paper and chose an offered action. The TV changed to show one large screen dominating the TV surface, several smaller screens beneath it and a narrow weather summary beside it. A stock exchange ticker rolled between the large screen and the smaller screens. The large screen had a bird's eye view of traffic rolling across the double avenue in front of the hotel. It was just as busy as any morning in Caprica City.

It was a little disconcerting how similar Earth was to Caprica at first glance.

Elosha glanced at the small screens on the TV. One of them showed a news anchor talking silently. That looked interesting so she looked down at her e-paper. She had surmised from the bellhop's demonstration yesterday that it acted as a remote control in addition to being a tablet and a phone. The stiff frosted glass-like surface was already showing boxes corresponding to the windows on the TV. Not for the first time, she felt slightly discomfited at the network integration evident here. She tapped a box and the news report expanded to cover the traffic view and the anchorman was unmuted. He was speaking Caprican instead of Englisa. Startled, Elosha took a moment to look closely at the man. The words were Caprican but his lips were definitely not forming Caprican words. Apparently, Elosha's translator had already networked into the system. It was a nice touch and a subtle reminder that these people were not to be taken lightly.

The Colonies quickly abandoned network integration when the Cylons revolted and used it against their human masters. The Colonies even had to disband the Mesh, which was like the Terran internet, to protect the people against Cylon attacks. Networking was the Achilles' heel of Caprica and the other Colonies during the First Cylon War and the nearly fatal lesson was pounded into the Colonial psyche. However, in the last decade before the Second Cylon War, the Colonies were slowly moving back toward network integration. The military even began to make battlestars and vipers networked units, but not to the extent of antebellum Caprica. Elosha didn't know it but that kind of networking was like the Internet's progenitor, ARPANET used by the American military in the final decades of the Cold War.

With the Cylons as good as exterminated except for the few that fled to Earth, the worries about Cylon cyber-attacks lessened and Colonial network integration increased apace. The famous Dr. Gaius Baltar was instrumental in dispelling the worries and encouraging the networking. But it had not reached the integration and widespread of the Earth internet, or the Mesh. Yet. Elosha did not subscribe to the paranoia about network integration that prevailed before the Second Cylon War, but the extent of networking evident on Earth was still rather unsettling.

The morning sunlight slanted past buildings through the window and shone on the TV. There was no sun-wash or glare reflection making it difficult to watch the TV. As far as Elosha knew, no television in the Colonies had that capability to the intense and frustrating annoyance of viewers everywhere.

The people back home had expected Earth to not be as blessed with technology as the Colonies. Yet, here was evidence to the contrary, small as it was. It was the little things that spoke of advanced technology as well as the big things.

A window appeared at a lower corner of the TV. Printed words asked her what she would like to have for breakfast. After Elosha chose some options offered in a corresponding menu on her e-paper, the message changed to inform her that the kitchen was now working on her breakfast and that it would be ready when she goes to the dining room.

More telltale signs of network integration.

Elosha shook off her discomfort and focused on the news report. It was now showing bird's eye view of several ocean-going ships slicing through the water that looked to be military warships. The view changed to show similar warships at a sedate cruise beneath an impressively long bridge.

"_The crisis in Yemen which began in 2017 continues. As our viewers may remember, the Yemeni capital city Sana'a, became the first capital city in the world to completely run out of water in 2017. Millennia old underground water beneath the city has been tapped out. Water, food, medicine and other supplies brought in from Africa and Saudi Arabia in pipelines and trucks were not enough so widespread looting, rioting and violence has dominated the region ever since, fueling sectarian warfare and terrorism in Yemen. This has given way to starvation and refugees fleeing across borders. Like Somalia at the turn of the century, Yemen is a failed state. Also like with Somalia, Yemeni pirates infect the water around the Horn of Africa."_

The camera focused on an American _Gerald Ford_-class super carrier and a British _Queen Elizabeth_-class carrier standing in the middle of the water, with the long bridge acting as backdrop.

"_Warships from the United States, Europe, Egypt, Iran, India and China are working to keep the sea routes safe for commerce. United Nations peacekeeping forces are keeping order in the Yemeni cities of Aden and Noor City at the Yemeni end of the Bridge of the Horn, which opened to fanfare last year despite threats from Yemeni terrorists." _

The view shifted to turbaned men in ragged white robes and women covered all in black struggling and crying against barriers at the edge of a city while blue-helmeted soldiers work to keep order.

"_The lawlessness has prevented the peacekeepers from going any deeper into Yemen and it is spilling over into Saudi Arabia and Oman despite local authorities' efforts. Refugees are clogging the routes to the Bridge of the Horn to escape over to Africa. As a result of this, the bridge has become a United Nations mandate, and Ethiopian, Eritrean and Djibouti authorities are cooperating with the UN and NATO commanders. As part of this cooperation, forces from the East African Federation are allowed passage through Ethiopia to the Djibouti end of the bridge. The EAF government in Arusha is putting the financial windfall from the Ugandan oil boom at the disposal of the humanitarian efforts. Despite aid from various nations especially from members of the Arab League, this humanitarian disaster shows no signs of abating. Despite the new desalination systems available to the region, many of the religious leaders and their followers have rejected the technology, claiming the new technology to be western devices designed to kill Muslims. _

Elosha had no idea about the countries being mentioned. She didn't understand much better when the news put up a map showing the location of the bridge between Africa and Arabia. All she knew was that chaos was reigning somewhere far away on Earth.

The news anchor reappeared. _"General Michael Ryan in the command center in Djibouti at the African end of the Bridge of the Horn made a comment."_

An American uniformed army general appeared onscreen. _"We are working closely with the United Nations and the Arab League to keep order and the peace in the Bab el Mandab. 'Bab el Mandab' is Arabic for 'Gateway of Anguish' or 'Gateway of Tears'? I hope to change the situation and thereby change the meaning of the name. With the help of countries like the East African Federation and Saudi Arabia and with the help of technology from the IOA, we can realize this goal if we put our minds to it."_

Elosha shook her head. Although the news didn't dwell on it, she had caught the mention of sectarian warfare. That meant religious people fighting, even killing each other for religious reasons. Earth obviously has a serious problem with that. Otherwise, the Earth people wouldn't talk about it on the news for everyone to see.

It was odd, though. Earth was supposed to have a monolithic, monotheist religion. Perhaps the truth was much more complex than that.

She had no idea just how much more complex.

Elosha went to the bathroom and was startled to see a small screen showing the same news report on the large mirror in the bathroom. More network integration. It felt intrusive here in the bathroom even if she could see the practicality of having information broadcasted even here where privacy was to be desired.

Shoving down a shiver, she went to the sink and waved a hand over the faucet which gushed water. First, she was somewhat confounded by the lack of handles at the sink until she discovered that by touching or waving over the faucet itself, she could turn the water on and off. She found that by moving her fingers on the image in the mirror, she could move it around and resize it without affecting the smart glass mirror. Hair rose on the back of her neck at this sign of technological wizardry. She moved TV image away to the side as she began her toiletries. Meanwhile, the small window in the smart glass mirror continued to show the news.

"_In other news, the IOA nations are continuing to assist assisting cities across the world with the installing of naquadah generators to create a decentralized power network. It is also assisting the European Union as it continues to create a new 'super-grid' of solar power plants, wind farms, hydropower plants, naquada generators, and geothermal plants across Europe and the coastal regions of North Africa and Egypt. The plan was originally slated to begin in 2050 but with the technological advances provided by the IOA and harvested through our ever growing 'out space explorations network, the time table has been dramatically revised."_

The anchorman turned to face a different camera. _"The so-called super-grid is part of a global effort to resolve the world oil crisis and replace fossil fuels with other sources of energy such as the naquada generators. It is perhaps fortunate that the IOA nations have reaped the harvest of technology through the stargate network just in time. This doesn't even take into effect new hydrogen fuel technologies that have been available for the last three years. Fossil fuel for cars and newly developed hydrogen engines for military and civilian aircraft have turned the oil industry upside down. Gasoline and diesel powered engines are rapidly becoming a thing of the past."_

"_In related news, President Earnest Boyd is kicking off his first hundred days in the Oval Office by hosting the long rumored summit of interstellar powers and the nations of the world here on Earth. Among the powers rumored to be invited are the worlds of Hebridan, Orban, Langara, New Tollana, Pangar, and the Free Jaffa Nation. He is working with leaders of the most powerful nations of Earth such as President Mikhailov of Russia and President Shen Xiaoyi of China. Citing security reasons, the location of the summit is a closely guarded secret and only a select few reporters are being allowed to attend. _

_Already, there are protests against the summit citing the dangers of new alien attacks and alien influence. Mixed in that are grievances similar to anti-globalist protests from the turn of the century. Some are calling the summit an act of 'galactization.' Calling for the American congress and people to reject the 'imperialistic predilections' by President Boyd was Junior Senator Bob Kinsey, staunch critic of the newly elected president. Like his father, former Vice-President Robert Kinsey who's was missing and presumed dead in 2012, he is a strong conservative and an unapologetic believer of American values. He's been the leading voice in the fight against President Boyd's proposed policies from day one. _

"_Earth must not to follow the ideals of a man who plans to build his own stellar empire, and that's exactly what he's doing, without the input of the American people" Senator Kinsey said earlier today in Denver Colorado. "God allowed us first to find and use the stargate. It was America that willingly placed in jeopardy the lives of countless Americans to keep the rest of the world safe, we have the right to have a major say in what direction the proud humans of Earth will go."_

_Joining us to discuss the newly inaugurated President's summit to be and its ramifications is Megan Kerrigan, writer of the blog 'The Social View.' Ms. Kerrigan, do you think President Boyd's initiative is feasible?"_

"_Well, Bob, before I answer your question, I must refute Senator Kinsey's accusations against the President. Many of his comments are distorting the truth. I knew his father and knew of his strong religious convictions, and I can say that Robert Jr. is cut from the same cloth. But he doesn't have the political maturity of his father yet. And he needs to redress some of his facts. Now to answer your question: This decade is when Generation-X is reshaping global politics. The last of the Silent Generation is passing away and the Baby Boomers are retiring so the Gen-X is coming into power across the board. The Gen-X are generally angry at the social, political and economic legacy left to them by their elders so they want to build a different kind of world. At the same time, they are not generally willing to let the Millennials, or the Gen-Y if you prefer, get a free ride when it comes to paying their share. As we and President Boyd will see, the Gen-X politicians will push through reforms of the banking and financial institutions, although the old guard will of course fight back. With the internet becoming more and more widespread than ever—it's reaching over eight billion people now, Bob—social media and other technologies will provide some of the impetus behind the Gen-X's new power and reach. With this in mind, they will give scientific research and environmental protection higher priorities. The trends for this were there before but now they will be accelerated under the new Boyd Administration and afterwards, especially since we are having contact with other worlds since Disclosure."_

The anchorman prodded, _"But what about the President's initiative?"_

"_It will be affected by how the Gen-X see everything, Bob. They are more heterogeneous than previous generations. More diverse in race, class, culture and ethnicity, and more liberal and progressive than their parents in general. They have grown up with computers with most of their lives, so they are more savvy and comfortable with technology, more flexible and open to new ideas."_ The anchorman began to look slightly impatient so the woman hurried to finish. _"What that means, Bob, is that the recent elections have put politicians in power who are willing to have intercourse with aliens and other Human worlds despite the attacks by the Kobollian Colonies and skirmishes with the Lucian Alliance. This is the new generation of politicians in Congress, and the governments of other nations that President Boyd is facing. If Boyd had been President and made this proposal a decade ago, we'd see a lot more resistance in the political and diplomatic circles, especially with the Wraith and Kobollian attacks."_

While she was doing her toiletries, Elosha did not understand what the woman was saying. She could have been speaking in a completely foreign language despite the automatic translation to Caprican because she was talking about things that were outside of Elosha's sphere of experience.

_What are the 'Gen-X' and things like that? Must be quirks of Earth culture. All of us really need to properly learn the languages here since these translators can only do so much. _Elosha stepped into the shower.

"_Speaking of Disclosure, it has guaranteed Henry Hayes' place in history alongside George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Franklyn D. Roosevelt. Disclosure was such a momentous event that people have begun using 'A.D.' in place of 'After Disclosure' and B.C. in place of 'Before Confirmation'. Hayes will forever be known as the Disclosure President. Ms. Kerrigan, do you think that President Boyd's summit initiative is an attempt to match Henry Hayes' place in history?"_

"_Well—"_

A ping sounded. It came from the shower screen. She looked up at it. A tiny green dot was flashing beside a new small box on the shower screen containing the words 'new message.' So the shower screen also used the apparently ubiquitous smart glass technology. Frowning, she tapped the mirror over the green dot, which expanded into a box with a text message.

_**Meeting in dining room in 20 minutes-Father Patrenus.**_

The priestess let out a small groan. Tyberi had somehow deigned to figure out how to use the text messaging function of his own e-paper. He had expressed distaste for the network integration of technology here but clearly, he would take advantage of it if it saved him effort. Her eyes caught the little box softly blinking below the message: REPLY. Sighing, she tapped REPLY and a touch-keyboard appeared in the mirror. She used a finger to tap the letters O-K in Caprican and tapped SEND.

As Elosha toweled herself dry and got dressed, she kept an eye on the news. The woman had missed Kerrigan's answer to the news anchor's question and the commentators had moved on to a new topic. She sighed heavily. If she hadn't once been a high ranking spiritual advisor to the Quorum, she might have well cursed.

She really wanted to hear their answers.

TBC (Yes, Elosha can rewind but she doesn't know that she can and she doesn't know how...)


	3. Chapter 3

First a little recordkeeping:

SamuraiCatFan: _Forget gangsta rap, wait until they speak to the local Baptist (National, not Southern) population. We have that planned for several 'discussions'. Experience…_

Shiva –J: From what I know about Missionary work then the 'Twelve Apostles of Paganism' will follow the basic formula of establishing a charity organization (with funding from the Colonies I presume) and engage with the community(ies) they wish to evangelize, establish a relationship with people and give out basic information about their religion and then work on those that show interest.

_No, they won't. They don't have a gain plan yet. There's a reason for this which is why I will go into it in the story. They are new to missionary work. Most of the people in the colonies are under the same religion, (Different sects but the same family other than the monotheists and atheists). The missionaries here expect to go out and start gathering flock for their beliefs. They have no idea how to proceed in the wilderness of another planet that has no idea who they are and really don't care. You see, these weren't the missionaries who were supposed to come to Earth…_

_Corruption is easy but these same people are prepared fro such tactics since they do the same thing at home. But knowing is not the same as experiencing as Ambassador Saltum has discovered. Teir religion is dead here? For the most part true although there are a few who believe but not the same way as the Colonials. It will be depressing._

Worldmaker: _Realization and traumatization from the net is the name of the game. Their worldview has to change first before any meaningful understanding can be reached._

EvilTheLast: _The missionaries as a whole (most of them and the far majority of the Colonies) have no idea that there is alien life out there. They have not been told of the Race, no details of the goa'uld and nothing about the Wraith. The colonial defense force near Earth is isolated is not in contact with family at home so they have not spoken of the Race or anything else. The colonies know only what their government has told them so far. Disclosure for them begins with Goesel's speech found in WW: The Balanced Destroyed. There ae a lot of agricultural produce that could be exchanged…but not yet, not even close. Plus alien foods on Earth and vice versa needs to be carefully explored before the okay can be given and that could take years even if everything was perfect between the two groups._

Ari989_: Learning everything there is to learn from the comfort of their hotel rooms… That is in some ways correct. But the internet isn't real life either. Missionaries need toget out and speak to people, have their lives challenged, explore the churches for real, see the sight, smell the adventure. That's the reason why they're out there, not just to see everything through the eyes of a machine. That's not life._

Robert: I am wondering how the war with the Cylons is progressing.

_The war has been lost most of the Cylons are wiped out except for the few on Home_

Missionaries:

Tyberi Patrenus

Lucy Ferro

Linus Abner

Elosha Gale

Dodona Belloi

Antonia Ursula Silva or Ursula for short

Luke Rhettus

Nikko Demos

Julian Soter

_**Chapter Three**_

_**New York**_

_**Waldorf Astoria **_

_**Morning **_

_Twenty minutes? _Elosha fumed._ I'll get there when I get there. This isn't the military. _

She decided to arrive fashionably late by at least ten minutes. She already missed the answers to the first news segment and she had no intentions of missing this even more interesting one just beginning. Leisurely dressing she listened to the news brief on the TV.

"_In related news, the joint session of the Senate Committee on Extraterrestrial Secrecy and the House Extra-Terrestrial Activities Committee is continuing proceedings on uncovering and investigating incidents that occurred while the existence of aliens and the stargate was covered up before Disclosure. We now go to the committee chamber at Capitol Hill."_

A group of suited senators and representatives sat at a panel in apparent judgment above a table where an old man sat with who was apparently his lawyer. Spectators and media people crowded the room behind the table. It reminded Elosha of the proceedings in the People's Council investigating the late Secretary Laura Roslin's non-existent role in a corruption scandal during the first term of President Adar's administration. One of the female senators in the middle of the panel leaned forward. A scrolling subtitle beneath her on the TV screen announced her to be Senator Camille Wray.

"_As Chairman of the National Commission on Extraterrestrial Secrecy, I'd like to convene our sixth public hearing. We continue over from yesterday our witness, a Mister David Ballard. The Sergeant-at-Arms will swear in the witness."_

While the named man was sworn in, Elosha was interested to note that the swearing in involved laying a hand on a thick hardcover book. Was this the Terran version of the Sacred Scrolls? She'd need to take a look at it somehow, then she frowned because if the language was in Englasia, she would have to have it translated. On the other hand, it might be in electronic form and it could be easily translated into Caprican standard for her and the others.

On TV, once the man was seated, Senator Wray spoke again.

"_Mister Ballard, I believe even the public's sometimes limitless patience for more lies and deceit has been exhausted by recent and current events, so I will simply skip the niceties and get right into it. Will that be acceptable with you?"_

"_Yes, ma'am, it will."_

"_Fine. Now as we concluded yesterday, you testified under oath that you had never heard of the organization known as Majestic-12, Majic-12, MJ-12, or simply Majic or Majestic, or its later incarnation known simply as the Committee. Nor have you ever heard of the organizations known as the NID or the Trust which were said to be controlled by the so-called Committee. Would you care to revise your testimony today, given that you had the evening to refresh your memory?"_

"_No, ma'am. I'll stand by that statement."_

Camille opened a folder on the panel desk and held up a piece of paper. _"Then why is your name, sir, on this memorandum about a Goa'uld System Lord who went by the name of Ba'al hiding on Earth, dated August 26, 2005?"_ The senator turned to the staff. _"Please show Mr. Ballard the Committee's Exhibit 3-B."_

A male staff brought the piece of paper to the table where David Ballard looked at it. He said, _"I can only assume that it is a fraudulent document created by political enemies during this turbulent period where it seems more important to find scapegoats than it does to find the truth."_

It was clear that Senator Camille Wray didn't like the man's answer. _"Three sworn witnesses have testified before this committee, sir, that the memo is authentic and that you were not only a member of the Majestic-12 Committee, but that you were, in actual fact, its leader for a period of nine years. Are those witnesses then lying, sir?"_

"_It appears they are."_

The senator now appeared exasperated. _"At any time in the last twenty years, sir, have you yourself ever been in possession of knowledge about the Stargate Program and of extraterrestrials?"_

"_Not to the best of my knowledge."_

"_Have you ever seen an extraterrestrial biological entity such as those called the Asgard, and the Goa'uld?"_

"_Not one I would recognize."_

There was a little laughter from the audience.

"_By all means, Mr. Ballard, share the humor with us."_

"_I find it amusing that with a potential threat of invasion now hovering over us, literally and figuratively, that the United States Congress would focus its energy on the distant past and not the future. I find it downright ludicrous that my forty-five years in private business, where I created more than seven hundred-fifty jobs as President of Stark Consortium, should be characterized by you and your committee as a front for some nefarious and illicit purpose. So, yes, Senator, the whole thing does amuse me."_

The senator now looked like she was sucking on a lemon. _"Do you believe an organization called Majestic-12, Majic-12 or simply the Committee existed with the mandate of covering up extraterrestrial contact and stealing extraterrestrial technology for its own benefits?"_

"_Senator, I'm a businessman. I have enough trouble getting my employees to stop stealing office supplies and calling in sick when they're not. Aliens, that's above my pay-grade."_

Camille Wray nodded. _"Very well. Sergeant-at-Arms, would you please bring in the detainee?"_

The camera swiveled its view over to a door opening. Four armed guards flanked a blonde woman dressed in an orange overall. Her hands were in handcuffs that were linked by a chain to another set of cuffs at her ankles. She looked up at the senate committee panel and her eyes glowed bright briefly. David Ballard's mouth slowly fell open as loud murmurs came from shocked spectators.

The senator, looking satisfied, said, _"Perhaps you'll recognize Charlotte Mayfield, or rather the goa'uld inhabiting her, Athena. Mr. Ballard, perhaps we are overly generous, but the National Commission on Extraterrestrial Secrecy will recess for fifteen minutes to give you time to confer with your lawyer on the penalties of perjury to a congressional committee."_ She banged a gavel on the panel surface. _"We're in recess."_

By this time, Elosha was dry and dressed, ready to take on the day. The woman was trying to process what she'd just seen. Was that woman Athena? The Athena? She didn't understand. If this were a pretender,, then so be it and gand chains were too good for her. But her eyes glowed with power and the committee obviously considered the prisoner as an extraterrestrial_, _meaning that she was posing as one of the true gods. She went to the dining room that was part of the set of suites the Colonial missionaries were staying in. Yet, her mind reeled from what she had just seen. She was sure she heard the senator correctly.

_Athena._

_Alien. _

_Alien human, or alien-alien?_

_By the Gods!_

* * *

><p>In the hallway, Elosha fell into step alongside other priests. She wasn't overly surprised that almost half the others were arriving about the same time as she was. It was a subtle rebuke, but a rebuke nonetheless. No one had entered the room yet other than Patrenus so he was effectively alone probably, impatient for his minions to come in. That attitude was something she intended to change.<p>

At the door, she nodded in turns at the ponderous Julian Soter, the stern-looking Ursula, the mischievously-smiling Lucy and the scholarly Luke with his nose in his e-paper arranged like a tablet. It was a short silent procession and Elosha preferred that as she needed to process what she had seen and heard. At the double doors leading to the dining room, they paused. The sight made them stop.

It appeared that Tyberi Patrenus had rearranged the seats. Last evening, the chairs were all spaced fairly evenly around the long table. Now, there was only one chair at the head of the table and Tyberi was sitting in it. All the other chairs were arranged in a single line down one side of the table. Tyberi was staring intently at the other missionaries standing in the doorway, frozen, unsure what to do.

Finally, Ursula began to step forward, but before she could go further than a step, Lucy suddenly darted forward and took the seat nearest to Tyberi. Ursula merely raised an eyebrow and took the next seat, followed by Luke and Julian. As the others pondered their next move, Linus Abner appeared and observed the situation. He wordlessly strode over to the table, picked up the chair furthest from Tyberi, carried it around the table and set it down next to Tyberi on the other side, and took his seat. Tyberi only raised an eyebrow at this. All eyes now turned to Elosha.

Elosha resisted the urge to roll her eyes. It was clearly a test by Tyberi. She wordlessly strode over to the table, specifically to the chair next to the one recently vacated by Linus. She slowly and methodically dragged this chair to the end of the table opposite from Tyberi and set it up directly facing the chief missionary. She sat in the chair, shifting to find a comfortable position and looking up at Tyberi, she finally said, "Intimate arrangement you've made here, Father Patrenus. Is a lesson intended? I love to learn and teach!"

An expression flickered across Tyberi's face. It was almost too quick for everyone else to identify but it was as if he was momentarily smelling a fart and ignoring it. "Yes, Mother Elosha, we have a lesson today-the lesson of Earth."

Somehow, Elosha just knew that Tyberi was ignoring her pointed inference about the seating arrangement.

Just then, the rest of the other missionaries filed into the room and took their own seats. Silas Germanico, Nikkos, Jocasta Sparrow and Thomasina King.

"Where's the oracle?"

Thomasina said, " Dodona is in her room with the door closed." She shrugged. "Likely getting high on chamalla."

Jocasta sniffed delicately in prim disapproval. "As a housewife and a priestess, I would never do that."

Tyberi tsk-tsked at Jocasta. "Dodona is an oracle. She speaks with the gods and she speaks for the gods. When the gods deign to speak with us, she will come."

Elosha nodded somberly. "It's not easy being high all the time," she deadpanned.

Tyberi and Ursula threw a sharp look at Elosha, but the priestess who was a former Quorum delegate appeared unaware of anything wrong. Surely, she did not mean anything derogatory about it because she had experimented with and indulged in chamalla and other drugs while she was in the monastery training to be a priestess.

"Anyway...," sighed Tyberi. "I hope we all have had a good night's rest. Today will be a long day full of _lessons…_" Here, Tyberi threw a quick wary glance at Elosha. "…Lessons for us as well as for the people of this planet. We are the chief priests set apart for this task. The best and the brightest that the Faith can offer to represent the Synod on Earth. With the example of the Lords of Kobol to guide us, our tasks, individually and collectively, will lead to Earth knowing the truth that saved us from the Blaze on Kobol, the truth that blessed us with the Twelve Worlds and their bounties, whereas the Thirteenth Tribe knew only the one planet, Earth. That truth shall reach all the monads on this planet. If not immediately, eventually. The will of the gods is guiding our hand. Our mission on Earth will be the triumph of the will."

"That is why we've come all this way," said Lucy Ferro agreeably. "Why we had to endure all that 'singing.' Get rid of the last bad monotheist, then there's…cake."

Julian pointed out with a smile, "What if even the cake is a lie?"

She shrugged, "We eat it. It's delicious anyway, isn't it?"

Ursula rolled her eyes and said, "We should have stayed well out of all this, if you'd ask me. But, once the cow's been milked, there's no squirting the cream back up her udder, so here we are, to see things through."

Tyberi's face was darkening as he realized that he was already losing control of the discussion. Before he could reprimand the clerics, several knocks sounded on the door leading to the kitchen.

Tyberi arched an eyebrow at Ursula. He wanted to punish her for what she said. "Want to get that?"

"Not particularly."

The chief missionary missed a step. But he had already started this so he had to see this through. "Could you get that?"

Ursula sniffed softly and glared at him. "I suppose I could, if I were asked."

Tyberi took a deep breath to keep his patience. After all, Ursula was a close friend of Livia Sytomia, currently the most powerful voice in the Synod back home. He forced a smile and said, "Would you _please_ get that?"

"Well, of course." Ursula stood up and strode over to the door. She added dismissively, "Why do you have to make things so complicated?"

Tyberi clenched his jaw as he glared daggers at the priestess' back.

From her vantage point at the other end of the table, Elosha could see that the byplay between Ursula and Tyberi didn't ruffle the priestess at all, if her calm proud face was any indication. Elosha remembered hearing the story of when Ursula found out that her daughter collaborated with the Cylons and plotted to betray some secrets for the love of a Cylon during the Second Cylon War. Even as the battlestars burned their ways into the nebulous heart of Cylon space, Ursula locked up her daughter in her bedroom and left her to starve to death. To punish herself for giving birth to such a traitorous woman, Ursula sat outside the door, stoically listening to the screams and crying from within until exhaustion and death finally overtook her daughter. If the story was true, Elosha knew that Tyberi should not poke the woman that Livia apparently trusted.

Ursula opened the door. Manuel was there, standing behind an enclosed food trolley and smiling brightly. He immediately rolled the trolley into the dining room and spoke. The translator automatically and smoothly made him understandable. "Ladies and gentlemen, your breakfast orders!"

Each time Manuel stopped at a cleric in the order of proximity away from the door, the top of the trolley slid open and a tray of food rose up. Manuel set the tray in front of each cleric.

Luke wondered aloud, "How is it that the food orders fit the order of our seating? We only just came in and..." He waved a hand vaguely, at a loss.

Manuel grinned brightly. "Your e-papers told us."

Luke blinked repeatedly until he understood. "Network integration," he muttered.

Some of the clerics shifted in their chairs uncomfortably. They remembered selecting their breakfast orders in their rooms and here they were, matched with their seats with no action to inform the kitchen of their seating arrangement.

"Gods be good!" breathed Jocasta.

Manuel gave a small bow of his head. "Enjoy your breakfast, ladies and gentlemen!"

"Wait a moment," called out Julian. "What are these…strips of…meat?" He pointed at an arrangement of flat wavy brown greasy-looking meat marbled with fat throughout.

"Oh, it's bacon, sir. American bacon, to be precise." Manuel consulted his e-paper tablet. "You ordered a breakfast that is popular in New York. These Americans, they are loco about it. Quite good, I assure you, even if the local obsession with it can border on the creepy. I'm told that if the bacon doesn't shatter when stabbed with a fork, it's undercooked." With that, he gave another bright teethy smile and backed out of the dining room, pulling the food trolley after himself.

Julian Soter dubiously picked up a strip of bacon and gingerly bit into it. He blinked and smiled in appreciation.

"Well, then, now that's done with," said Tyberi. "Shall we get down to the lesson at hand?"

The clerics nodded in agreement as they ate their breakfasts.

Tyberi waved a hand at a fly. Annoyed yet smug, he said, "For all their vaunted wealth and technology, they still haven't solved the problem of houseflies."

The clerics made small noises of agreement. The housefly escaped Tyberi's efforts to swat it and landed unseen on a wall. If someone were to take a magnifying glass and look at this fly, he'd see that the bug appears entirely artificial. In fact, it was a robot insect, complete with a tiny antenna at the back of the bulbous silvery rear. Through its composite eye-cameras, Manuel and his fellow intelligence agents leaned forward in a hidden room to watch and listen to the images and sounds relayed by the fly on the wall.

"Father Rhettus," said Tyberi, "you are the scholar of our group. I know you have spent much time on the local information net. Tell us your impressions."

Luke hesitated for a while and then said, "Well, brothers and sisters, there is a shocking amount of pornographic material on the internet."

"And water is wet," said Elosha. "That's human nature."

Ursula nodded. "I remember when they released the holoband, the porn industry was the first to take full advantage of the technology. Much of the V-world was such a debauched place! The Thirteenth Tribe is just as human as any of us in the Colonies."

"Terrans," corrected Elosha. "If we insist on calling them the Thirteenth Tribe, then it is a conceit of ours. That tribe was the first to leave Kobol, two thousand years before the Exodus to the Colonies, right? So shouldn't they be called the First Tribe?"

Luke appraised the priestess even as Tyberi and most of the other clerics threw frowns at her. "You could say that. Actually, that might explain one of the definitions of the name Tau'ri. It means 'People of the First World' or simply 'the First People'."

Tyberi now shifted his frown to Luke. "Let's not get off track with what's likely Terran propaganda."

Luke cleared his throat nervously under Tyberi's glare. "Anyway, it seems that Earth has technological schizophrenia. See, some areas of the planet are advanced and rich while many other areas are incredibly poor and primitive. The images of such schizophrenia can be shocking. It's like Earth is a microcosm of the Colonies…or it's as if the circumstances of all the Colonies are crammed onto one single planet!"

He tapped his tablet-form e-paper and a large painting hung on the wall in front of the long table transformed into a screen. Or rather, the smart glass protecting the painting became a computer screen. Elosha realized that there was another reason for Tyberi to arrange all the chairs to one side of the table. It was for their ease of viewing the screen. Luke tapped in some commands and motion pictures of people and landscapes showed up on the screen. Dry dusty lands, wet lands, fantastic gleaming cities, slums, starving people in rags, skeletal children with swollen bellies, and rich people in expensive clothes and swimwear that wouldn't be out of place on Caprica, Picon or Virgon.

"Compare the region we are in with other regions like Africa and India…." Luke shook his head. "I don't really understand. A world with the kind of space technology we've witnessed should not have such appalling conditions in many of its regions!" He shook his head again. "Like I said, it's a world with technological schizophrenia."

"Or is it a sign of the ruling elite's oppression of the Thirteenth Tribe?" offered Tyberi.

"Those poor people," whispered Jocasta in delicate horror.

"We have some of the same problems in the Colonies," Ursula put in. "So we can't act as if we've never seen this before."

"But the technology we're seeing here," put in Linus, ignoring Ursula's observation. "It's disturbing. In some way, Earth is like Caprica before the Cylon revolted. In some other ways, it further ahead than antebellum Caprica. In still other ways, it's behind, like the examples Luke showed us."

"Are they close to creating their own Cylons?" wondered Silas. "Or have they done it already?"

"We will find out in our year on Earth," decided Ursula. "If they have or are close to it, we will remind them of the wisdom that we've put in the Sacred Scrolls: 'Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a man's mind.'"

Tyberi shook his head in pity for the Terran people. "These people are not like us. Sometimes parents simply do not look like their children. Nevertheless, it is their duty to take care of them and advise them."

"Are these their temples?" Julian asked as images of cathedrals, mosques and temples from all over the world came up in flashes on the screen.

"Likely," said Luke. "As you can see, there are so many different styles. It appears the Terrans like to use so many different styles to honor their so-called One God."

"The One True God is a fantasy," Lucy scoffed.

Elosha countered, "Perhaps. Remember, brothers and sisters, the war of the Blaze on Kobol was caused by a jealous god when he demanded he be placed above and before all other gods. Also, it is written in the Sacred Scrolls that as the Thirteenth Tribe, or rather, the First Tribe, made a stop on the way to Earth, they built a temple, the Temple of Five, in honor of the five priests dedicated to the One Who Must Not be Named. The nameless god and the jealous god must be one and the same. It is clear that this nameless jealous god is the same one being worshipped by the Terrans. Is that not evidence of Kobol and of their being a cousin tribe?"

Nikko said, "That is a topic for another time, sister. We need to know more about the Terrans and their one god. Besides, what they believe is different from what we believe. We know that what we believe is true."

"It is foolish to believe in the literal reality of our own scripture as well," Elosha said. "Or do we really believe that Athena was born whole and armed out of Zeus' head? The myths are metaphors."

Julian nodded and muttered quietly, "I don't want metaphors. I want answers."

Tyberi leaned forward. "Elosha, does it not say in the Sacred Scrolls that when the Thirteenth Tribe arrived on Earth, they built a temple to Aurora?" At her nod, he continued. "If we can find the Temple of Aurora, that will be the evidence we need on Earth to tie these people to us and Kobol and it will be something that they must acknowledge."

"That will definitely be enlightening," she replied. Elosha then took a deep breath. It was time to unload what had been bothering her in the back of her mind throughout this breakfast meeting. "And speaking of Athena, did you watch the news this morning?"

The clerics shook their heads, causing Elosha to frown.

"Wait," said Luke. "Is it this news channel?" With an input command on his e-paper, he brought up the image of the news anchor that Elosha saw earlier this morning. She nodded once.

"Is it about Athena?"

Another nod.

"I can show you the news clip that Elosha was talking about."

"Wait, what, really?" Elosha never realized that she could rewind or retrieve what had been broadcast.

Luke smiled, proud to show off his intellectual prowess. "You can choose a date and a key word, then play whatever video image you want any time." With that, he tapped in some commands. The screen then showed a replay of Senator Camille Wray summoning the detainee into the committee room.

Again, the beautiful blonde in an orange overall, cuffs and chains. Again, the woman raised her head and her eyes glowed brightly for a brief moment. Again, Senator Wray looking smug and saying, _"Perhaps you'll recognize Charlotte Mayfield, or rather the Goa'uld inhabiting her, Athena. Mr. Ballard, perhaps we are overly generous, but the National Commission on Extraterrestrial Secrecy will recess for fifteen minutes to give you time to confer with your lawyer on the penalties of perjury to a congressional committee."_ She banged a gavel on the panel surface. _"We're in recess."_

* * *

><p>Somewhere else, Manuel leaned forward closer than before, while the robotic fly on the wall took in the whole scene. "Now here it comes."<p>

A stunned silence fell upon the dining room. Then whispered mutters of "Gods be good! My gods!" and other such exclamations broke the silence.

Jocasta raised a hand. "Wait a minute. How does this 'internet' really work? Is it anything like the Mesh before the First Cylon War? How do we know this is not fake? I mean, in the old V-world, the Capricans could create whole virtual environments and characters!"

Luke stared at Jocasta, trying to comprehend why she asked the question. In short, his head was full of frak at Jocasta's lame attempt at reasoning away what they had seen.

Lucy rolled her eyes and interjected, "Sister Sparrow, it works like this: When you activate and enter the internet, little aliens see what you wrote and run at the speed of light to a central database and run back with the information that you requested. When your signal is down, it's because the little aliens are on strike. When you end up going into a different website that you didn't want, the aliens have got lost and ended up at the wrong place. The aliens also carry your text messages. Sometimes, they distort them on the way over—you haven't made a typo. It's the aliens being silly."

It was Jocasta's turn to stare, this time at Lucy. Jocasta finally said, "Wow…sarcasm and snark. That's original."

"This…this changes things!" cried Julian out loud.

"No, it doesn't!" argued Ursula and Tyberi at the same time.

Elosha fiddled with her fingers. She was well-versed in both the Sacred Scrolls and in the history of the Thirteen Tribes, but she did not entirely believe in the truth of either. She knew the Sacred Scrolls inside and out. She took them as allegories and lessons about the relationship between people and the gods, or rather the relationship between people and their ideas or concepts of the gods. She had kept those thoughts to herself because she knew that it'd make others of the Faith uncomfortable and cast her in a bad light in the eyes of the Synod.

If Athena was actually an alien in the guise of a beautiful blonde woman…. That would reinforce her personal crisis of faith. But even the senators and observers on the internet believed that thus Athena was a false god, and alien imitation. She needed to know more. It was perhaps fortunate that she was chosen among the twelve missionaries to be sent to Earth and spend a year on the planet. Come what may, she would face it. She murmured softly to herself, "People often claim to hunger for truth, but seldom like the taste when it's served up."

Julian heard her. He chuckled softly as he leaned over towards her. "It is one thing to be clever and another to be wise."

She looked up warily at Julian.

"But I agree," he whispered. "Most people would rather deny a hard truth than face it."

Meanwhile, the other clerics were still clamoring and arguing about the female detainee shown in the news clip.

Tyberi shouted for order and the clerics eventually quieted down. "Brothers and sisters, it's almost time for us to go to the Colonial Embassy and meet with Ambassador Agasha Saltum and his wife Daramia. Now, is there any last comment before we go?"

"There's one thing," put in Luke. "During my searches in the local Mesh, I came across what I think is supposed to be a joke on religion:

_The Jew says, "Christians and Muslims are wrong."_

_The Christian says, "Jews and Muslims are wrong."_

_The Muslim says, "Jews and Christians are wrong."_

_The Atheist says, "You're all correct."_

The clerics now looked at each other in puzzlement.

"What in the name of the gods does that mean?" said Ursula with frustration. As Elosha had learned earlier that morning and Ursula was now learning, there were things that were outside a person's sphere of experience and knowledge. It would take more than a translator for her and everyone else to understand what Terrans were saying.

Julian ventured to answer, "It _might_ mean that there are either several different religions on Earth or at least several different sects of the same religion on Earth. Kinda like how even in the Colonies, there are other minority beliefs. Like the followers of Mithras on Gemenon, the few worshippers of the Kemetic animal-headed gods on Caprica such as Isis, and the Celtan religion of Asatru on the Virgon moon Hibernia? And that's not even mentioning Monadism."

"Hah!" sneered Lucy, startling some of the other clerics. "Let's not tell that joke to Admiral Atheist!"

"Who?"

"Oh, Julian, don't you know that's the Synod's little pet name for William Adama?"

Some of the clerics rolled their eyes, some others smiled at that, and the rest, including Tyberi, frowned. The chief of the missionaries chided, "I warn you, brothers and sisters, I have little patience for fools."

Ursula arched an eyebrow at that but she refrained from saying anything.

"Once more," added Tyberi, "we are here on Earth to show the example of the Lords of Kobol to these people. Their will is manifest in our presence here. Our mission can only result in the triumph of the divine will."

Lucy nodded enthusiastically. "The way I see it, Father, unless we each conform to the will, unless we obey orders, unless we follow our leaders without question, there is no possible way we can remain free."

Elosha threw a quizzical look at Lucy Ferro. She wondered whether she was being serious.

_**Next: On to the Embassy**_


	4. Chapter 4

Revised version. Had a challenge with MS word's markup mode-sorry

**Chapter Four**

A little before noon, the Colonials were packed and ready to make the trip to their permanent headquarters. It took a little less than an hour to make the journey from the hotel to the Kobollian Embassy as it was being called. Calling it the Colonial Embassy of Kobol just didn't sound right and although that was the official name, it was considered by most of the visitors a bit too cumbersome. In any case, on the way in the limo, they stopped at one particular red light and while waiting for the light to change, a Terran teenager on a motorcycle recognized the Colonial flag on the limo's hood. He turned a hateful face at the limo and flipped a finger off at the clerics hidden by the tinted limo windows. Tyberi merely pressed a button, causing a window to roll down, and proceeded to flip the teenager off right back.

He quickly rolled the window back up and turned to a quizzical-looking Ursula, and said with a smile, "Now that Earth kid will get to tell his grandchildren that he was flipped off by a priest of the United Colonies of Kobol."

When they arrived at the embassy, one glance at Father Patrenus was enough to tell that he was not impressed by the modest four stories, brown brick building surrounded by trees and tastefully designed gardens. The twelve foot high fence made it look like some elaborate prison and the square-like design of the structure somehow offended him although he wasn't sure why. He didn't like the overt presence of the security guards that had stopped the car and made a rather invasive check on the passengers inside. That had been offensive to him. They were priests, servants of the gods, not terrorists. Yes, he understood the reasons why they had been searched but it had still offended him. However, he would make allowances since these Earth people didn't know who they were and were only doing their jobs.

By most accounts when it came to his religious practices, Tyberi was a man of action. He wanted to be out among the masses impressing upon them the religious beliefs that these people had lost. The hotel stay had only served to energize him as he literally had a perfect view of one of the temples or what the Terrans called churches. They were so close to one of the churches of the One God that everyone seemed to revere here, that he could have walked to the place. Unfortunately for him they hadn't had time visit the Saint Bartholomew's Episcopalian Church and that left him frustrated. He wanted to speak to one or more of the religious leaders and get a feel for them which would help him decide how to prepare himself when he was ready. Never mind the fact that he couldn't speak the language well enough to hold an intelligent conversation with the locals. Never mind that the locals, despite them carrying portable computertronics called smart phones, disguised as communications devices in their pockets, didn't have Colonial translation applications built in – a mistake if ever there was one as Earth would one day become part of the Colonies of Kobol–he felt the need to begin the great work. In short, he was excited and wanted to begin the mission he felt he was born to do. It was the very thing that he had argued for in the Synod only three weeks earlier although he never dreamed (hoped, of course) of actually accompany the missionaries to Earth. Like the others accompanying him he believed the time was ripe to begin turning the people of Earth away from their ignorance of the true gods.

The weather was colder than the norm for this season, but the brisk wind couldn't dampen Ambassador Agasha Saltum's enthusiasm at seeing some of the prominent priests and priestesses from coming to the place he called his home for almost two years. He and his wife Damari were surprised to find out that even one of the famed Oracles of the Kobol Colleges on Gemenon had come. It was an honor to receive such important guests and served to remind them and their small staff how serious the Colonies were taking this. Wisely, both husband and wife looked out the window of their embassy before they grabbed their wraps and headed to the limousines slowing to a stop near the front entrance.

Quickly, the two of them ushered the missionaries into the embassy while other members of the staff grabbed bags and personal belongings and carried them to their already prepared rooms. It took approximately an hour before everyone was settled in.

The small group felt more comfortable to be among their fellow Colonials, although many of them felt somewhat disappointed that the amenities were not as luxurious as at the Waldorf Astoria, nor quite as advanced. When they checked out of the hotel, they had to return their e-papers. Those little personal devices had grown on them quickly.

In the main dining hall, several dishes were prepared for noontime meal and the missionaries were quickly shown their seats as the ambassador wanted to start this first of many meetings between them on the correct footing.

"I'm somewhat surprised that you got here so quickly after the request was accepted," started Agasha after the invocation had finished. The tall man with dark brown streaked with gray hair smiled radiantly at the visitors following his wife's unabashed example.

"We are, too," Tyberi said. "I really expected the Earth leadership to say no, that they didn't want us here. But it's obvious the gods thought otherwise." The man smiled, pleased that he could speak a civilized tongue without the fear of tripping over the confusing Englisa language. "And I will confess that the trip _was_ interesting, so unlike our own mode of traveling the stars."

"You will have to tell me what it was like. My wife and I came the traditional way. It took my staff and I the better part of a year to journey to Earth and that was after we received permission." The man shook his head. "You got here in a day. Amazing."

"And, it's somewhat bit disconcerting as well," said Jocasta Sparrow. Her forty-something's face was rife with disapproval. Even though fairly young, her natural beauty was hampered by the frown lines that came to prominence each time she spoke. A little plastic surgery would have been a help, but she shunned such things as being hypocritical to the gods' will of what a person should look like. "The Earth people are too advanced for their own good. Being isolated like this and having this kind of power can only cause ruin and their likely destruction in the long run."

"It's possible," Agasha allowed.

Elosha watched the ambassador carefully while the man spoke, trying to get a feel for him. It was easy to see that he wasn't enthusiastic at Sparrow's comment. "It seems like you don't necessarily agree with my esteemed colleague," observed Elosha. "How do you like Earth so far?"

"It's a fascinating planet. What I have seen, I liked; but, I haven't seen as much of this world," he explained. "You see, we're not allowed to travel to many of the countries here."

"Is that because of our religious beliefs?" asked Nikko. "I wouldn't be surprised if it were," he said answering his own question. "They have to be wary of our message. People don't necessarily like the truth."

"No," agreed the ambassador, but for entirely different reasons. "At first, I assumed that was the sole reason, too. However, although some countries are intolerant of any religion other than their own, most countries are hostile to us not because of our religion but because we tried to conquer them."

"We didn't try to conquer them," Linus huffed. "We were bringing them back into the fold! There's a difference." The young man with wild sandy hair looked indignant at the suggestion that the Colonies would try to conquer the Terrans. "They shouldn't have sheltered the Cylons and they should have welcomed their Colonial brethren–us with open arms instead of wiping out the fleet sent there to protect them from Cylon deceit." He didn't even try to hide the tones of bitterness spilling out from his voice.

"The Terrans didn't need our protection and there's the fact that these people see it somewhat differently," the ambassador's wife said delicately.

"Then the Terrans are wrong. They should have embraced us and none of this would have happened," Nikko countered. "Think of the numbers of lives lost because of this misunderstanding."

"Mister Demos, I've been here for more than a year and a half and I confess that my worldview now is different than what it was before I came here," interrupted Agasha, answering Elosha's unspoken question before the argument could get any more heated than it already was. The ambassador had already pegged Nikko as a hothead whose opinionated attitude might well get him into trouble unless he learned to rein in his patriotism. "What I've seen, I like. For an isolated people, the cultures here are remarkable and incredibly diverse. But we can discuss that a little later along with the rules and regulations that we need to go over while you are on Earth. Right now, I want you to enjoy this Earth cuisine," he said.

"It's not Colonial," Damari said apologetically. "It's impossible to bring most foods to this planet unless they're pre-packaged, decontaminated and deemed safe to be allowed on Earth, actions in which I happen to agree with. But many of the foods here are very close to what we have at home and we've tried to pick something that you'd be familiar with."

"We understand completely," Tyberi said. "We are aware of the dangers of introducing alien food stuffs into a new, alien environment."

"I'm still full from breakfast," complained Lucy. "If we keep this up, we won't be able to fit into our clothes," she added smiling picked up another finger sandwich and plopped it into her mouth.

"I see they have apples here," Nikko announced. He looked at them like they were the strangest things on the planet. "When I first saw them, I must confess that I didn't expect that," he said examining the deep yellow fruit carefully. "It's so similar to our fruit."

"Oh, yes," the ambassador said. "They have more than seventy five hundred varieties of apples at last count. You will find that this planet has such a huge variety of fruits and vegetables that they dwarf anything that we have at the colonies. And the flavors, while close, _are_ different than our varieties."

"Impossible," Nikko sniffed. "We have close to six hundred varieties from seven different worlds at home. They can't have more than the Colonies."

"I see you know your fruit, Holy One."

"I grew up on a farm on Caprica and worked as a priest of Demeter on Aerilon," Nikko replied humbly. "We grew fruit of all kinds so I became somewhat of an expert on apples, pears, and peaches and several others. Most of our fruits are from the original seed stocks taken from Kobol during the great exodus."

"Well, Earth has documented their fruits," Agasha replied. "They have thousands of varieties of apples and are developing and discovering more every day. And they claim that these are native to Earth, not imports." The ambassador stared at the fruits on the table. Those apples helped shape my opinion of Earth in many ways."

"I don't understand," Elosha stated.

"Neither do I," said Tyberi irritably. "Can you explain what fruit has to do with our conversation?"

"Yes, I will," the ambassador answered. His wife went from relaxed to somewhat alarmed. What her husband was about to say could very well cause a diplomatic incident between them and the missionaries. "Before I begin, have any of you read my reports I've sent back concerning Earth and its culture?"

"Only a few," admitted Tyberi. "Most of the reports were censored since they dealt with the political situation which the Synod was not privy to. However, I did read some of your views and reports on the religions of this world. Frightening reading, actually."

Ambassador Saltum wasn't really surprised at his answer. Diplomatic packets and correspondence took an average of three weeks to a month to get to the colonies and back as each pouch was transported by a CDF diplomatic transport to Star base _Makaria_ about a week's travel. From there the station used its powerful subspace transceiver to transmit and receive orders from Caprica. The transmission took an average of a week to arrive and another to get a response. So, communication with home was slower than he'd like but there was little choice in the matter. For emergencies the embassy had its own subspace transmitter–a product acquired from Cylon science–that could reach out to _Makaria_ in emergencies. However it wasn't used much as Terrans proved their ability to easily intercept and translate most Colonial codes, which was naturally a source constant irritation and frustration at Colonial Intelligence. And paranoia was the operative word as CI did everything in their power to limit Earth from discovering any more secrets than the already had.

Simply put, they were afraid of Terran contamination; so much so that they placed the released prisoners, survivors of the battle in the Sol system in quarantine for almost a year before allowing them back into the population. Each and every one of the former prisoners, no matter the rank were forced to sign non-disclosure forms to insure that no mention of the Race was released into the general population under the penalty of life imprisonment including hard labor. Goesel didn't want it released under any circumstances, not until the time was right and apparently it still wasn't the right time.

"I thought as much. The briefs you'll receive later today will give you a general outline of what we've experienced since we've arrived on Earth." He snapped his fingers. "And before I forget, this world is based on a twenty-four hour cycle instead of a twenty-six as on Caprica. It's a small difference but it was confusing for a while and it took us a little time to adjust." Most of his guests nodded in appreciation. Having gotten that out of the way, he continued. "First, you will have to have to relax here for at least the next three to five days. Believe me, the immunizations that you've received from both our people and Earth's is going to affect you and you will need to rest from their effects."

"Yes, yes we know," Tyberi insisted. "But we feel fine right now."

"Enjoy it while you can," the ambassador said in all seriousness. "I was informed you underwent standard decontamination onboard their ship, but believe me, immunizations are something different altogether. Our doctor will make sure you're as comfortable as possible."

"Sounds ominous," Ursula said, speaking for the entire group. "But we do thank you for your concern."

"Good. I just want you prepared and now that that's out of the way. We have to discuss another very important topic. It's most imperative that you understand that Earth is not like any colony you've ever experienced. It is known by several different planetary governments and their enemies by the name familiar to us all, the Tau'ri. It's the unofficial name for the Terrans and let me be clear that they do recognize it but strongly prefer to be recognized as the Terrans."

"So we've been told over and over," Ursula huffed. "I don't understand why they have such a problem with the name Apellai. It's who they are. Every person in the Colonies knows by now that the Earth's star in relation to the colonies is in the constellation we both call Ophiuchus, another connection by the way. Apollo is sometimes related to Ophiuchus and one of his epithets is Apellai, meaning destroyer, a good name for these people and their belligerent attitudes."

"With respect, Honored One, they could care less about our assumptions about who they are," said Saltum. "But to continue, the name Tau'ri was given to them by their enemies and is considered by the Terrans to be somewhat derogatory, although the Terrans have by their actions made it into their own and it's respected, or feared and hated, depending on who you are, across the galaxy."

"What do you mean across the galaxy? How far have they traveled?" asked Tyberi.

"Are we speaking of aliens here?" asked Lucy. "Or, are we speaking about other colonies like those wretched Tollanians?"

The ambassador looked thoughtful as he answered. "The Earth people haven't come out come out and said it directly but their travels appear to be extensive, far more than our explorations. Tollanians are human but they are not a colony of Earth. But to answer your other question, I believe we're speaking primarily about human occupied worlds, although there has been some suggestions that not all of these governments are–human."

Tyberi felt a shiver craw up his spine. He began silently praying that these so-called 'aliens' weren't in fact the lizards that called themselves the Race. "What type of aliens are we speaking of here?" he carefully inquired. "Do you have a name for them?"

"No," Agasha confessed. He was on dangerous ground now. Most Colonials didn't know about the Race. Goesel and those members of the Quorum in the know were very specific about keeping the people of the Colonies ignorant of the creatures as long as possible. Disclosure would come soon enough but on their terms, no by having the information leaked before they were ready. "The Terrans are remarkably tight-lipped about their alien allies. I do know that some of their fantastic technology came from an extinct _alien_ race called the Asgard. But I have few details."

_The Asgard, another human group,_ Elosha thought. She remembered the senator mentioning Asgard and Goa'uld during the Congressional hearing broadcast in the news, but she kept silent as she listened and observed the discussion.

"Aliens," Nikko scoffed. "We've never encountered aliens in our thousands of years of space travel. I've heard something about the goa'uld but they're just barbaric humans, not aliens."

Tyberi remained remarkably silent while Elosha began to glare daggers at his back. Dodona simply glanced at him and returned to eating with eyes half-closed. A tiny smirk tugged at the oracle's lips.

"Aliens are real," the ambassador said, glad to be able to speak a half-truth to his fellows. "The goa'uld are real aliens, not some human devil or servants of the Prince of Darkness as many in the Colonies think. But from the descriptions about them that I've been told about, they could be right, for all I know. They are parasitic snake-like intelligences that take over and live inside and controls the human body. They have been around for thousands of years, maybe longer and they pose as gods. They've destroyed hundreds of races and enslaved countless humans. They are real."

As Nikko stared into the eyes of the ambassador, his own widened with horror as he remembered the news clip of the woman introduced as Athena in the American Senate hearing. "That's ghastly," he said. His voice was a harsh whisper as his mind raced. "Is that why these Terrans have rejected the gods? Is it because of the blasphemy of these abominations?"

"But you said that the goa'uld enslaved thousands of humans. What humans?" asked Elosha. "Were these humans Terrans that were kidnapped? Since we've never heard of the goa'uld, and there has never been any recorded incidences of kidnappings on such a scale at home or in the Scrolls, not even rumors they had to come from Earth. Am I right?"

"Yes. Humans were spread across the galaxy by these creatures." He waited as the missionaries digested exactly what he had just told them.

Lucy was the first to blurt out the realization. "That means there are humans spread throughout the galaxy, isn't there?" she all but yelled. "Most of them are heathens with no idea of the true example of the gods." She slumped back into her chair. "We have a lot of work to do."

"Quite a bit, actually. This world doesn't believe that they are a colony of Kobol."

"Of course they don't." Ursula smiled gently. "Being so isolated from us, how could they not, especially since they've lost their history. Or, has it been suppressed?"

"I've been on Earth and the things I've seen, what I've read has made me more thoughtful and cautious. Suppressed? I don't believe so. But it appears that they don't have any history concerning Kobol."

"So in other words, you don't believe Earth is the Thirteenth Colony," Lucy challenged.

The ambassador slowly nodded to her shock. "I'm beginning to doubt it."

"Impossible," Tyberi scoffed. "We are all Kobollians, no matter what they say. We have a common heritage–humanity."

"I wonder," Agasha said. His words came out harsher than he'd intended, surprising Tyberi and the others. "You haven't seen what I have. They have archeological evidence dating back a hundred thousand years that's impossible to dismiss."

"Why are you telling us this?" Elosha asked. Like the others she could barely believe what she was hearing coming from the ambassador.

The look on his face was that of a desperate man. "I need to explain to someone who might listen," the ambassador told her. "I've sent word to our government leaders but I don't believe they understand what I'm trying to convey to them, or maybe they don't want to. I am praying that you, our religious leaders might be able to understand what I've seen here. We're making assumptions that could put our worlds in extreme danger."

"Ambassador," Ursula said gently as not to antagonize their hosts. "I don't know what you've seen. I don't know how the Earth people have convinced you, but what you've just said flies in the face of everything that the Book of Pythia tells us. This is Earth. This is the Thirteenth Tribe; there's no question about this. They were the first tribe to escape the impending doom of Kobol more than two thousand years before the other tribes left Kobol. Many people think that all of the tribes left at the same time or that the Thirteenth Tribe was the last to leave, but most people do not read the Sacred Scrolls from beginning to end. Nevertheless, the fact that they left Kobol can't be disputed."

"Here, it can," Agasha stated flatly. "I've seen evidence that the Sacred Scrolls aren't as complete as we may believe."

"What you're saying can be considered blasphemy by some people," suggested an intense looking Father Tyberi. "Perhaps living on this planet has caused this crisis of faith you're obviously having. I now understand why we're here at this precise time and place. Among other things, we're here to support you as you begin to doubt that which you know is true. The gods must love you to want to protect you as such."

"I pray that they do," answered the ambassador. "But that doesn't explain what I've seen and I can't ignore the evidence."

"Then please give us an example," prompted Luke as he pulled out his ever present notepad.

The room quieted somewhat as he had the attention of everyone. Linus and Lucy glared at him as if he were some type of poisonous insect. Elosha was guarded but curious while no one could tell what Ursula was thinking. Tyberi and most of the others looked on the man with something akin to pity.

"I've spoken to Tollanian Ambassador Tarium. I..."

"You've spoken to those people?!" Julian all but screamed. His response shocked the others to their core as his outburst indicated just how shocked the usually quiet, priest was at the ambassador's statement. "They're murderers, all of them!"

Elosha glared at him. "What is wrong with you?"

"My father was a senior officer on the _Severus_ when it was blown apart by the Tollanian warship," he whispered. "All of those people killed and the Tollanians got away with it without a scratch."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Saltum told him. "Too many people have been killed in the last few years and that's why we're all here, each doing our duty to keep more deaths from happening."

Dodona Selloi rubbed her temple in dismay. "We've been so concerned with the people of Earth that we've forgotten to take care of our own!" She turned to face an angry Julian Soter. "Please forgive me for not realizing this sooner. I would be honored if you would take time so that we might speak to each other in private. Together we can get your time of mourning something you haven't had. You're not alone and we take care of our own."

"I feel fine," argued Julian, but refusing to look at her.

"I can tell that you're not," countered Dodona while she secretly wondered what Livia was thinking choosing someone still in the grieving process. What did the woman expect, that he would forgive the people who killed members of his family after only a few weeks?

"Please excuse my outbursts," the young man said. "I thought I had my feelings under control." He was obviously conflicted. "If you will excuse me, I will retire to my room."

"Maybe you should stay and hear what I have to say," insisted Saltum. "Knowledge is power and you need to know this if you are going to stay on this planet and speak to their allies. I'm sorry but we've all lost many of our friends and loved ones because of the wars. Cylons, Terran, Tollanians; it makes little difference how when our people die and leave us. What we must do is prevent more deaths on sides. But ignoring the truths and ignoring needed information will only help to get more people killed. So, I ask that you stay and listen to what I have to say."

Clearly Julian wanted to leave, torn between the need to be alone and the obligation to hear what his ambassador had to say. From his tone, it had to be important but what did it matter to him? Without his permission, a laugh escaped from his mouth. All of his strength had deserted him. Everything he thought he was turned out to be a lie. He was so convinced that the death of his father wouldn't affect him when Livia suggested that he go that he had ignored his own feelings. He truly believed that but when the ambassador mentioned the Tollanian, he carefully cultured shell fell apart. Julian would have never believed that he was so weak. If there was so much hatred in his heart for the Tollanians, then how much more for the Terrans was hiding waiting to burst forth and ruin this mission of the gods?

"I will stay," he said slowly. _When this is over I need to rethink who I am. This mission is too important for me to hamper it with my attitude because gods forgive me, I hate them,_he thought.

"Thank you,' Saltum said with grudging respect. The man had some strength, more than he had first assumed. "As I said, I spoke to the Tollanian ambassador at length about the Terran people and their relationship to the Tollanian people and like many I assumed they were a colony of the Terrans. Ambassador Tarium was adamant that his people are not a colony of Earth. From his denial, I surmised that his people were one of the lost ones, ships of the Thirteenth that somehow been lost or damaged and somehow separated from the main fleet that had successfully made it to Earth. The Tollanians must have found a habitable world of their own and developed their own culture and science independent of Earth. As you know from what was written in the Tynesus logs, colony ships were lost due to mechanical failure, outright mutinies, or natural disasters like the Acsellii asteroid swarm that destroyed those eight colony ships of ours before our ancestors discovered Cyrannus."

Several of the missionaries in the room nodded and the mention of the reference. Captain Brotem Tynesus's logs of the great journey from Kobol to the system of the twelve worlds was without doubt one of the great historical treasures of the Colonies, in many ways almost equal to the Sacred Scrolls. The captain's accounts of the journey from Kobol and the perils the people encountered were still required reading for all historical students. Seventy ships were recorded leaving Kobol, led by the great ship Galleon. Only eighteen colony vessels survived the two thousand light year journey from home to the Cyrannus quadruple star system. What wasn't commonly known was that during the journey, mutinies and piracy among the survivors occurred. Precious food and water were coveted prizes as well as parts fuel. The jump capability of the ancient ships were very limited being able to jump a maximum of only four light years. Once the transit was completed, it took a week for the engines to cool down enough to be used once more. According to the records, the wait periods between jumps were the worst. Many times, a ship didn't arrive at the proper coordinates and was considered lost. Many escapees, refugees from the war and ecological catastrophes that destroyed Kobol still harbored grudges. Entire ships and crews were lost due to in-fighting. In his logs, Tynesus theorized that some of the missing ships may have found refuge in unknown star systems but he had little hope for them surviving alone. By all accounts, the trip to Cyrannus was horrific and a textbook example of what could happen when cramped, desperate people did everything they could to survive. But it was just the people and ships that were a danger.

The worst incident, and ironically the defining moment of the journey happened when the fleet inadvertently jumped into the Acsellii asteroid field, named after the first ship obliterated by a strike from a half mile wide asteroid. Nineteen ships were destroyed during the eight days stay as they did everything they could to cool the engines and avoid the rocks plummeting the heavily armored by vulnerable transports. Two of the vessels attempted to jump early. Their engines tore themselves and their ships apart. The incident changed the mindset of the entire fleet. Together the survivors made it to the Cyrannus system. Many of the old resentments remained but on the twelve worlds, humanity remembered.

The Thirteenth Tribe's trip, was believed to be a different story. Some historians believe that they were the last tribe to leave Kobol but there was evidence to suggest that they instead may have been the first to leave, as described in the Sacred Scrolls. Some still argued the point. However, whatever the reason, many historians believed that the Thirteenth Tribe ships that left suffered many of the same challenges that the Twelve Colonies had. It was almost impossible to believe that ships hadn't been lost during their journey, but unlike their brethren their destination had taken them to areas of the galaxy where there were rich garden worlds perfect for humanity to flourish. That the Sacred Scrolls, especially the Book of Pythia, contained descriptions of the Thirteenth Tribe's journey to Earth heavily suggest that someone may have come back to Kobol and told the tale to the other tribes.

Agasha naturally assumed if the Tollanians weren't a colony of Earth then they were lost members of the lost tribe. They told him otherwise.

"The Tollanians are not a colony of Earth, nor are they survivors of the journey to Earth. Both they and the Terrans agree on this. The Tollanians acknowledge that their people originated from Earth, kidnapped from Earth by a Goa'uld that had either abandoned them or died. They're unsure about what happened but they were left alone and their technology advanced much further than Earth's. They are few in numbers now but they are adamant about Earth's survival. Any attack or aggression against Earth is considered an act of aggression against them. That why they attacked and destroyed some of our warships only twelve light years from Earth. They perceived us as a threat."

"But why were we perceived as a threat?" Linus asked. "We weren't threatening the Terrans. We all know that the Terrans are capable of taking care of themselves and we all know that this part of the galaxy is rich and capable of sustaining us all without us interfering with each other. Are they so afraid of us that they can't abide us to be anywhere near them?"

"Perhaps we shouldn't focus on the politics," Tyberi interjected quickly, trying to deflect this line of questioning. "We're here to help these people understand the truth and let's leave the politics to the politicians."

"But I want to know," Linus insisted.

"As do I," added Ursula.

"They believe that war is inevitable and Earth is a critical part in everyone's survival. They owe Earth a great debt. The Tollanian ambassador told me that they will not tolerate any people actively interfering with Earth. These people are not interested in us or our survival. If we interfere, they will wipe us out."

"Barbarians!" Luke huffed.

"Whatever they may be, they insist that Earth is the home of humanity not Kobol. The Jaffa also insist that the Tau'ri, not the Kobollians, are the first people and Earth is where humanity originated."

"They've lost their history," suggested Luke.

"Or, they have solid evidence that contradicts our understanding of Humanity," the ambassador countered.

"Ridiculous," Tyberi scoffed. "But this argument will be settled when we find evidence of it in our time here on this planet, not arguing here over lunch. When we find the Temple of Aurora, we will be vindicated. Let us speak of more important things."

"No," Elosha said. She could see the worry and concern and confusion written across Agasha's face. "I want to hear what our ambassador has to say."

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Kobollian Missionaries:** _Tyberi Patrenus, Lucy Ferro, Elosha Gale, Antonia Ursula Silva or Ursula for short, Luke Rhettus, Nikko Demos, Julian Soter, Dodona Selloi, Silas Germane, Linus Abner, Thomasina King, Jocasta Sparrow _

**_Chapter Five_**

Ambassador Saltum rubbed his forehead with his handkerchief. Speaking to his own people, half of whom suspected he might be a traitor, and the other half likely a heretic, had taxed him more than anticipated. Days like these were ones he really hated. Right at this moment, anything he reported back to the Quorum might well be dismissed as propaganda or deliberate lies, and that dismissal could engender diplomatic misunderstandings that could well destroy the fragile relationship that he and his small staff and built up since they arrived here. Being an ambassador from a world many people here hated made him wish he'd never taken the job. However he had to admit that he'd developed lots of positive connections, some of which he hoped would bear fruit in the future. The Terrans were much less belligerent than they had been when he and his wife first arrived, part of which he knew stemmed from fear of the unknown and cultural bias between their respective peoples, and attacking Earth hadn't helped much either. But these people had been remarkably open, and information that he assumed would be kept from him, wasn't. That astonished him and when he asked why they were so open, the President no less told him that there was no way that most of it could be kept secret. The Colonials would find out sooner or later about the cultures and societies of Earth. It would be a waste of time and resources trying to keep it secret. Besides Earth for good or ill was proud of what they were and how far they'd come despite the enormous pressures and challenges arrayed against them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what do you know about the Pythian writings?" Then Damari laughed at him shaking her head in embarrassment. "Foolish question," her husband said, flushing a little at his mistake. "Forgive me. Let me rephrase that question. We know that Pythia was one of the ancient oracles who helped to write the sacred Scrolls some four thousand years ago. Is that correct?"

"We believe the date is closer to thirty-six hundred years," corrected Elosha. "But yes. Her other writings haven't been widely studied by most of our people, but those that survived were again dated to the same time period."

"And they're usually widely misquoted," Tyberi added as he slipped into lecture mode. "Like many of her writings and the scrolls of the time, they were obscure and subject of several interpretations. Many of them are even misquoted, taken out of the context of their true meaning."

Dodona jumped in. "The most famous misquote is: 'all this has happened before. All this will happen again'. This quote has been used for everything, even automobile commercials," she finished.

"Yes," said Agasha before a long-winded debate could take hold. "And everyone knows of the passage relating to our exile from Kobol and finding the twelve worlds."

"And the Lords anointed a leader to guide the caravan of the heavens to their new homeland. And unto the leader, they gave a vision of serpents, numbering two and ten, as a sign of things to come," his wife, Damari quoted.

"Very good, Mrs. Saltum," praised Tyberi magnanimously. "Most people don't realize that the twelve serpents referred to the twelve types of humanoid Cylons that had infiltrated the Colonies with the intent to destroy us from within."

"It is also interpreted to mean that Earth as seen from our system, resides near the constellation Scorpius and this world and this government might represent the ten and two serpents that is the sign to come, either our salvation or our destruction," Luke said. "Earth, or rather its sun, is part of the constellation Ophiuchus, the serpent-bearer," he added.

Tyberi shook his head, vigorously denying that conjecture. "That is an interpretation that I don't agree with. The prophecy has already been fulfilled by the elimination of the Cylons. If it hadn't been for Gaius Baltar, a true saint in my humble opinion in spite of his atheism, the Colonies would have been attacked and severely damaged, possibly beyond recovery and the prophecy of the sign of the twelve fulfilled with the destruction of the Colonies. Millions might have died by the hands of those filthy machines," he sniffed. "The prophecy foretold this and we were able to prevent it." Then a thought occurred to him. "Ambassador, did you tell the Earth government of the war we had with them?"

"Yes, I did."

"And they still continue to protect the machines from our righteous retribution?" asked Ursula.

"Yes."

"Then it's clear that they don't understand the sacrifices we've made to keep our people from being annihilated, or its willful ignorance on their part.""

"Their laws are different than ours. What you or I would do would not be condoned here," he said looking directly at Ursula. "I was told by the leadership of the IOA that they don't condone genocide unless there's absolutely no other choice and even then they won't choose that path lightly."

"Hypocrites," said Luke, shaking his head in dismay. "They won't condone genocide yet they would turn a blind eye to genocide happening on their own planet. I've found several examples of this in the Terran Internet last night: Darfur, Burma and a country called Rwanda, I think. And there's what's happening in the country of Yemen now."

"And that's why their world is the state it's in," scoffed Lucy. "They refuse to clean up their mess. Whole countries harbor those terrorists I saw on their news briefs. But being monotheists, it's no more than I expected. They're all savages."

"Lucy Ferro," Damari growled. "Be careful. The same things have and are happening in the Colonies and if you don't know that then you are a fool." The room went absolutely silent. "They're savages? No," she answered. "You don't' know what you're talking about. These monotheists you're so dismissive of are not the same as those at home. Your short-sighted assumptions are borne out of ignorance that can at best ruin your mission and ours, and at worst start a war with these people." Glaring at the increasingly hostile woman, she added, "I don't know why they picked you to come here. That, in my opinion, was a huge mistake."

"How dare you!" Lucy screeched. She was incensed that a nobody like that…that woman would dare speak to her that way. "You have no idea who you're speaking to and you have no right to lecture any of us about our religious qualifications!"

"I know you're Livia's niece and that's probably the only qualification that you have in coming here," Damari retorted.

"Enough of this!" Elosha jumped in. "Please! This argument is distracting us from what the ambassador is trying to tell us."

To say that his wife was passionate and outspoken would be an understatement of laughable proportions. It was of course one of the things that he loved about her. However being respectful to people she considered fools, she was not. Her bluntness had caused more than a few political glitches at home. "Damari, please," implored her husband.

"Yes, control your woman," Lucy snapped. "Speaking to me like that. No wonder Adar was sent to replace you…"

Damari growled ominously at a suddenly wary Lucy. "What in Hades' name did you just say?"

A panic-stricken Tyberi quickly jumped up. "Please, please! I implore you to cease this argument before something is said that can't be taken back. We're civilized people, brothers and sisters. Let's not fight amongst ourselves. Ms. Ferro, remember who you are and who you represent. If you can't speak respectfully to our hosts, then I suggest you retire to your room until you can calm yourself." He turned to Damari. "On behalf of all of the missionaries here, the entire College and the Colonial government I apologize for the actions of the people under my authority and my care. Will you please forgive us for insulting you in your own house?"

It took a few seconds before Damari managed to say, "I accept your apology."

The way she glared at the dark-skinned woman glaring back at her indicated that it was anything but.

For her part, Lucy glared briefly at Tyberi before looking away. Priests were supposed to stick together, but Tyberi was not backing her up when she needed him. Lucy glanced at Ursula who continued observing but hadn't yet said anything. The only hint of her feeling was a very slight curl of contempt on Ursula's lips. Lucy fumed. Livia was going to hear about this at the earliest opportunity.

Agasha took the moment of respite to retake command of the situation. "As I was saying, in one of the countries that we may be allowed to travel to see the remains of a city called Jericho. Archaeologists have proof that people in that region settled there about twelve thousand years ago. The settlement that became the city itself was built more than eleven thousand years ago." He looked around to his stunned audience. "This evidence has been confirmed by multiple sources."

**_French Polynesia_**

The Earth people or, as they prefer to be called, Terrans, certainly knew how to make beverages, mused Richard Adar, former President of the Colonies of Kobol and Ambassador of the to the world of Earth. He, his wife Marthia, and Lead Admiral Augustus Cain were spending their second day lounging around the luxurious Hilton Moorea Lagoon resort located on a part of Earth called French Polynesia. When the three of them arrived yesterday he first believed that the conference was going to be held on the exclusive, secluded island. Certainly it was a perfect if somewhat distracting place for a conference. But he wasn't about to complain, since he'd assumed like everyone else that this summit was going to take place on some space station near the Colonies, not on Earth itself, a year's distance away!

The shock of arriving at Earth less than seven hours after the journey from the Cyrannus star system had sent shivers up his spine as he tried to calculate exactly how fast the ship _Mashantucket_ needed to travel in order to get here. In fact, he hadn't been able to do the calculations. Cain had provided those details for him, further intimidating him and his wife. The truth was, that it was so unbelievable that he assumed that the Earthers were lying to them and that this was some undiscovered garden world not too far from the Colonies. Of course, that particular theory was laughable and was quickly discarded. There were no planets like this anywhere near the Colonies that the CDF and explorers had ever found. Furthermore, the missionaries were at their New York City location and in contact with the Colonial Ambassador Agasha Saltum, the man the Quorum foolishly wanted him to replace as the senior lead in their contacts with Earth. This replacement he felt was a major mistake since the man and his staff had been here almost two years now and had made connections that if he were to take over, would have to be cultivated all over again. Nevertheless, those were his orders which came directly from President Goesel and he, Richard Adar would follow the orders of his President.

Adar, however had been given a liberal amount of discretion in this very critical mission. Several members of the Quorum were disturbed by the reports Saltum sent back concerning Earth as a whole, their culture, and their religious views. Earth was a microcosm of complexities that upon reflection would take decades to begin to understand. But what disturbed the Quorum and the College of Synods the most was the lack of any reports of the Earth people either acknowledging, or being aware that Kobol was the birthplace of humanity. Instead Saltum had sent a stream of reports showing archaeological evidence that humanity occupied Earth for a minimum of twenty thousand years or more. Then records of mankind's ancestors uncovered, examined, and recorded dated back another fifty thousand years or more.

The Quorum and religious leadership's response had been predictable.

Now, Adar was here to in effect take over the job as Colonial ambassador to Terra. Saltum's position would be reduced to assistant answerable directly to the former President of the Colonies. This declaration grated on Adar not in the least because Agasha's reputation was sterling and many leaders in the Quorum recognized that he was instrumental in keeping Earth and the Colonies from going to war during the recent incident with the Tollanians and the Race. It was his actions on Earth that kept the officials here from initiating a volatile response to the supposed intrusions too close to Earth's solar system. Of course, he recognized his people's actions for what they were–an attempt to get close to and in effect surround Earth with a Colonial presence. It was a foolish plan, fraught with dangers with a high risk of disaster. From Saltum's summations, the Terrans had no idea that the Race even existed until the Tollanians butchered several Colonial warships, making the entire CDF look impotent in the process and further degrading their relationship with Earth. If he had been president then, he would have never sanctioned such a plan, especially after reviewing the results of the failed attempt to subdue Earth almost three and a half years earlier. It was never his intention to conquer and forcefully unite Earth with the Twelve Tribes in the first place. However certain members of the Quorum, and the CDF, and several very influential corporations had decided otherwise.

First Contact with the _Prometheus_ shocked the Colonials to their core. That such a small ship could cripple its much larger Colonial counterparts, had real energy shields, and used a form of faster than light different from anything previously imagined had sent the military command into a quiet frenzy. Most of those involved at that time, including himself he admitted, weren't as upset with the fact that they didn't believe in their rightful gods as the facts that first, Earth really did exist; second, they possessed and used technologies different from anything the Colonials had; and third; hadn't told them where Earth was located before they humiliated and escaped from the CDF. Ships were sent on frantic missions to discover the whereabouts of the Thirteenth Tribe of Man.

Once the general population found out that Earth really did exist, Adar was literally forced to find Earth and reunite the tribes of man once and for all. A huge expeditionary force was planned, but those plans fell apart when it was discovered that the Cylon menace had reared its ugly head in a most sinister way. The Cylons had created a new form of abomination, human-like monsters that had infiltrated just about every level of government and Colonial society. If it hadn't been for Gaius Baltar discovering the Cylon treachery, the Colonies may well have suffered grievous damage with hundreds of millions of casualties before they were stopped. Any plans to find Earth were postponed until the Cylons could be neutralized forever. It was reasoned that if the Cylons somehow followed Colonial expeditions and discovered Earth, they'd immediately destroy it. There was no way the Colonials would allow isolated Earth to be destroyed because of their actions.

After a brutal but short war, 'the plan' was ruined before it could be implemented and the Cylons were all but wiped out. Several small Cylon convoys did manage to escape but they were ruthlessly hunted down and exterminated. Colonial fleets took two years to track and destroy those machines. But one small group continually escaped the Colonial machine-hunt. That one small group fleeing from the Colonials discovered the one place that the Colonials had every intention of finding, and they found it by pure blind luck. And it was just their luck that Admiral Helena Cain discovered them and Earth.

Cain's hatred of Cylons was well known and the added bonus of discovering Earth's star system was simply too good to pass up. She didn't harbor any hatred for Earth but like so many others, she did want a little payback for the humiliation years earlier and this presented the perfect opportunity. There was also the added incentive to put Earth in its place since they were apparently an arrogant bunch. They had been isolated too long and needed to understand that they were simply one world, no better than anyone else and certainly not greater than the Twelve.

Adar advised a diplomatic solution but the Quorum moved to forcefully annex Earth, declaring the Tau'ri government an outlaw organization perpetrating crimes against their own people, specifically: the outlawing of religious beliefs of Kobol, refusal to rejoin the Colonies and the rightful government. The Quorum also added other crimes such as the refusal to recognize the Articles of Colonization, armed resistance against their Colonial brethren and harboring enemies of mankind specifically Cylons. It was a flimsy excuse however it was enough to create an intolerable situation and that freed the CDF to use any and all means necessary to free the people of Earth against the Tau'ri, up to limited nuclear bombardment of the planet's surface.

Angry and defiant, Adar vetoed the resolution for reunification by force of arms, but he was overruled. The military wanted payback for the embarrassment by the _Prometheus _and the weapons technology Earth apparently possessed, the religious Synod, furious with Earth's monotheistic religions wanted Earth sanctified for the gods, and the millions upon millions of new followers along with the credits they would bring to the coffers. The corporations were salivating over future profits. Every action, every justification came down to one simple explanation and two simple facts and those facts were these: the Twelve Colonies wanted Earth reunited and with that the promise of enormous profits that would flow into the Colonies coffers. Finally, they believed they could take it because they were strong enough to do so.

They found out the hard way that they weren't. The Tau'ri Terrans were not to be trifled with. An entire fleet that could have fought against a Cylon force three times their size staggered away from Earth's tiny military with their collective tails between their legs.

The predictable result was that a lot of political and military heads (including his own) rolled. Admirals Nagala and Helena Cain had to resign after the debacle, but were quickly and quietly re-instated when the greater galaxy began to rear its very ugly and very deadly head. Their experience was needed more than ever.

Ambassador Agasha Saltum was, in Adar's opinion, needed exactly where he was, not publicly humiliated and relegated to secondary status because the powers-that-be didn't like what he was telling them These same people that place him in the position of the hit man. Worse, Adar didn't have a choice. The next choice by the quorum was an idiot zealot, a woman guaranteed to cause friction between the Terrans and his people with her mindless shortsighted attitude. As it was, he was barely nominated for the position. Representative Adriana Contessa Iblison-Gratium was well known and had a lot of connections and further, many high-ranking officials owed her and her family favors. Their company, Morning Star Enterprises, controlled the majority of the military and civilian contracts for space design and construction in the Colonies. Adar thank the gods that _he_ was here instead of her. The mere thought that she was a hair's breath away from representing the Colonies made him shiver. Given her family's reputation he was genuinely surprised that her brother had chosen the priesthood as his vocation. Well, wonders never ceased.

* * *

><p>Last night would remain among his treasured memories as he stood on the beach of an alien world, letting the waves of an ocean never before seen or felt by Colonials lap at his feet. Amazed, he could feel the waves gently trying to pull him deeper into its embrace. He was delighted but not crazy so he was content to remain at the water's edge, sipping some delightful, exotic, non-alcoholic beverage made from fruits he'd never tasted before. He had to smile though as Augustus literally jumped into the ocean and took pains to enjoy himself as much as possible. And, the Admiral was right. The Colonials would pay top credit to have a chance to come and vacation at this beautiful Terran resort place. He also knew for a fact that the rich and famous would be willing to pay so much that it would very likely out price anything Earthers could match. As he thought about that, he frowned a little. Not being able to vacation here in their own home would undoubtedly infuriate the Terrans but the owners of the resort would be ecstatic and filthy rich on top of it.<p>

The people that ran the resort were exotic in ways he'd never seen before. He simply didn't have anyone from the Colonies in which to compare them. Their looks, their complexions, their speech, the way they carried themselves spoke of an alien world. And by the gods their version of the bikini should be immediately imported to Caprica and Picon for all to see. It was a good thing, a very good thing that his wife had chosen not to attend the evening's entertainment. That one dance would have given her a heart attack. He would have never been able to enjoy it with her harpy like gaze on his neck. Thank the gods that he was merely old and not dead.

The stars above shining in all of their quiet and majestic glory intoxicated Richard. The sight of the spiral arm filling the sky filled him with wonder. Because of their location, no one in the Cyrannus system could witness such a sight as the Milky Way, and these people simply took it for granted. The new ambassador was well aware of the night skies of Caprica, Picon, and Scorpia and the some of the constellations were easy to spot and identify. This proved that the Sacred Scrolls were right when it said that when the Thirteenth Tribe landed on Earth and looked up at the sky and saw their sibling tribes in the sky, meaning the constellations that the Twelve Colonies were named after. Others constellations were not visible and this disturbed him on a visceral level as it was a reminder that he was nowhere near home. Nevertheless it was exciting. This Thirteenth Colony, was magnificent and he was quietly delighted that Nagala and Augustus' daughter failed in their attempt to subdue this planet. If they wanted to bring this world into the fold, dropping nukes on it wasn't the way to do it. There was no sense in turning places like this into radioactive zones. This was Earth! The Terrans needed to be preserved no matter the reasons why they chose to go their own way.

On the other hand, his wife Marthia acted like she had one foot in Hades. The moment she arrived she was cold and distant. Oh, yes, the political actor that she was, was there with her ever present smile and limp handshakes, but beneath that façade was a cold fear and barely submerged hostility. If he had known that she would act like this he would have never brought her with him. Normally, his wife was about as exciting as watching construction people laying bricks. Here though, she was surpassing herself with this attitude. Was it any wonder that he had a couple of affairs with women he could barely stand just to keep the loneliness from becoming overwhelming? But, he conceded, he never expected her almost panicked reaction at coming to Earth.

He noticed the signs when they first boarded the Terran ship. The decontamination process unnerved her although there were no physical effects. The sterilizing lights hadn't affected them in any noticeable way (and they had to find out exactly how such a simple looking, but obviously effective procedure worked). Being on the alien warship and at the mercy of the Terrans frightened her immensely. Richard tried talking to her but several hours later he gave up as his every attempt was met with cold silence. Last night her cold demeanor finally thawed and the truth spilled out. She was afraid of the monotheists here, an entire planet of them and what they might do to her and him. It was an irrational fear, but she held onto it like a death grip. The 'Great Calamity', the rumors of Tau'ri dictatorships, the _Makaria_ incident, and the Tollanian incident had taken their toll on his wife. Both their sons were in the military and it had been bad enough on her during the final Cylon war. The thought of losing one of both of them had stressed her to her limit. However the Terrans and Tollanians were worse and all of her fear reached the breaking point. The sad thing was that Adar hadn't even noticed. The woman wasn't the love of his life anymore but he had no wish to see her suffer like this either.

It was close to midday when he, his wife, and Cain were again taken by that strange tubular shuttle to the summit meeting. Both men were surprised since from what they were told it wasn't scheduled to begin until the next day. His wife was under no obligation to go however both men thought it best as she was showing increasing signs of nervousness at being left all alone. Surprisingly, the three of them were taken by private shuttle. It was obvious that several of the vacationers were going to participate in the summit and he wanted to speak to them, but they were housed some ways from the three of them, no doubt purposely to keep Adar or Cain from speaking to them and the fact that they were transported in a small shuttle and not taken in the larger transport with the rest of delegates as part of the group confirmed his suspicion.

Like August, Richard was astonished by how fast they were moving and the total lack of acceleration. The blue green ocean of Earth was little more than a blur to their eyes as they headed towards their destination believed to be another island. It was apparent that whatever this summit's agenda was the Earth people were making sure that it was as isolated as possible and that nothing would go wrong.

Marthia's rocking back and forth most of the journey made her husband suspect that his wife was praying. He couldn't believe that she would have fallen apart like this. As for Augustus, he merely looked out the window respectfully and studiously avoided any chance glance at the man's wife for which Adar was thankful.

Adar didn't have an inkling how fast they were traveling but they had to be really moving and within a few minutes a shape took place quickly identified as a small city. That was surprising since he could have sworn they were in the middle of a vast ocean. But there it was, a city, rapidly defining itself as they sped towards it. As they moved closer, his eyes almost fell out of its sockets at the sight. His wife had stopped rocking and her eyes too were glued to the scene before them. Cain looked disturbed as well as very thoughtful

Outside was a city designed so much like a snowflake, floating in the middle of the ocean. It was a gleaming off white with huge towers and what looked like skyscrapers. The city seemed to just float as neither man could any place where it was attached to land.

It was when the curious shuttle with no obvious engines had passed through the infamous Tau'ri force shield that the pilot turned and said, "Welcome to the city of Lemuria. Please prepare for landing."

_**Next chapter: More of the conference mentioned in Worldwar: The Balanced Destroyed and more on the 'discussions' a the embassy. They haven't even started yet!**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter Six**_

_**New York City**_

_**(Nineteen hours post arrival of missionaris to Earth)**_

"And how do we know this _evidence_ you speak of isn't fake?" Thomasina King asked Ambassador Saltum. "You've been here for a long time and I wouldn't put it past Earth Intelligence manipulating you and your staff, providing evidence that doesn't really exist in order to subvert you and our people."

"It's a real possibility, Ambassador," added Ursula. "The relationship between our people is strenuous at best and such lies could be supplied to you in order to destabilize not only our people but the people of Earth in order to promote ongoing hostility. These falsehoods can easily be used to keep the people of Earth from discovering their true origins, thereby keeping the current leaders in power as long as possible. That would also keep the Terran population from finding out and acknowledging the connection between our people."

The ambassador nodded vigorously, since he was in complete agreement. "Those were our first thoughts when we first saw their evidence. What better way to prove that Earth wasn't connected to the Colonies than by 'proving that Earth was the birthplace of mankind, not Kobol? However, if that is true then much of what we thought we knew was wrong. This was the assumption that we began with." He sighed heavily. "My staff and I spent a month researching their claims. Then we spent a few more months combing through their history and records. We're still researching. I will say that the Terran internet is a very useful tool here and it's something that we might think about building at home while we rebuild the Mesh, with the appropriate safeguards of course," he added. Agasha was somewhat surprised when no one voiced an immediate disagreement at his suggestion. "We've gone to museums and have discussed this subjects with various Terran experts in the field."

Sitting heavily in his chair, once again he sighed. "Their evidence is impressive. I am a Colonial and I can't yet quite accept this evidence that mankind originated here on Earth, but," and here he paused to make sure his next words would be carefully considered by his guests, "when I see the evolutionary pathways of life on this planet; when I see the evidence of the primates and pre-sapient humanoids; when I see how close the animals here are connected to man when I see the genetics–what I understand of it–and how it compares with parallel human evolutionary development, I have to concede that we may know a lot less about or origins than we think. We may be missing a lot of information about who and what we truly are and where we came from.

If you look at the DNA evidence in both animals and humans, the conclusions are hard to deny. And to clarify things, the Terrans don't deny the connection to the Colonies. They instead disagree as to _how_ we are related."

There, he'd said it for all to hear.

Tyberi turned beet red. Lucy meanwhile, prepared a rant to end all rants. She was clearly incensed and horrified that their own ambassador had been so corrupted by these primitive, monotheistic heathens. Elosha and Ursula were from all appearances very disturbed, but at the same time most of the time also thoughtful. One could almost see each of them searching their memories of the scrolls and scriptures in order to confirm or deny the ambassador's allegation. Linus remained silent as did Dodona. Luke simply grunted and continued recording everything in his notebook.

"I'm sorry," Dodona said. "I don't fully understand. I understand the words but not the intent behind them. Can you explain to me this connection between animals and mankind to me?

The Ambassador smiled. "Of course I can. It took me a while to understand it myself. Colonial understanding in this particular branch of science is far less advanced as compared to Earth's and that's partially because we were colonists living on worlds we didn't originate from."

The Theory of Evolution, as it's known on Earth, simply did not as such exist in the Twelve Colonies. The science of genetics was well understood but detailed understanding of _evolutionary_ genetics was far behind its Terran counterpart. Colonial scientists noted certain genetic relationships between humans, animals and plants originating from Kobol, but without a huge database to work from they had little in the way of investigating the family trees on Kobol. Therefore they possessed no way to formulate their own theories of man's genetic evolution. While there were fossils on the planets of the Cyrannus System, they were only fossils of the native life before the Kobollian flora and fauna overran everything. Before the discovery of Kobol, the only evidence of evolutionary genetics originating from Kobol lay in how germs, bacteria and insects adapted to different environments and obstacles. Essentially that was it. Two thousand years was simply far too short for any noticeable adaptive evolutionary changes in human, animal and plant life and Colonial advances in science had only begun to re-establish itself in the previous one hundred and sixty years. There had been no radical shifts in the populations, human or otherwise. Evolutionary genetics was in its infant stages; the missionaries were not very knowledgeable about the subject hence their doubt of Saltum's claims.

"That is another reason why I am pleased that you're here," the ambassador continued when no one immediately spoke up. "You can ask questions we might have missed or not thought of and you will force us to respond with answers that we had not previously considered. If I and my staff are wrong or have somehow been deceived, I leave it to you, our leaders, knowledgeable in the ways of the gods, to discover the deceptions and correct us. But if not, and if we are right then it's my expectation that you will pass this information along to our people."

_And with it the firestorm that will erupt if it's discovered that our history is wrong._

"Ambassador Agasha," Tyberi said diplomatically after a few moments. "You've given us a lot to think about and yes we will do our own investigation, a very detailed one I promise you. What you're suggesting, if it is proven true, may well destroy the very foundations of our beliefs." The man's eyes were haunted as his mind played the possibilities of nightmare scenarios on the Colonies. By the gods, Earth was even more dangerous than he expected! "Not only is it frightening but dangerous to our people. Many people will not want to even hear a hint of this.

"We will have to be careful and as thorough as possible in our research given that this isn't our area of expertise." Gone was the usual blustery tone in his voice. "As you may know, but the rest of you don't," he added looking at the some of the younger members in the room, "is when we first encountered the _Prometheus_, Dr. Jackson told us that humans originated from Earth. He wasn't believed and his words were quickly dismissed as being ignorant of the truth. But what he said was overshadowed and all but forgotten when it was found out that Earth was populated by a large number of monotheists. And I admit there were other reasons why our government was so intent on finding Earth."

"Father Patrenus," Lucy interrupted before he could continue. "I don't believe that our people has seen or been told is the truth. That is," she amended looking at the ambassador, "the whole truth. The scrolls specifically states that mankind originated from Kobol. Remember the day when they told us that Kobol had been found? It's only been a few years but so many records have been unearthed and we've barely scratched the surface. Ambassador, our archeologists have unearthed many records, but many more of them are presumably destroyed due to natural disasters and war before the great exodus."

"And time," added Ursula.

"And time. However, the surviving records we've found so far confirmed what was written in our own scrolls. It is true, we know very little of the history about life on Kobol before the exodus; so, I propose that it is probable that the original Kobollians built ships and explored space, discovered and colonized Earth long ago. The researchers on Kobol have a lot of work to do trying to reconstruct the records. So much history and evidence of their everyday lives were lost, but I have faith that the truth will be discovered and it'll prove my theory. It's so exciting! We're slowly regaining our history." She paused for a moment. "From what little I've read, it must have been paradise."

"But not all of it," Elosha muttered.

From what little she'd seen so far, Earth with all of its fantastic technology was flawed, allowing so much evil to happen across the planet; really no better than the colonies. But those earlier records hinted that Kobol was just as bad. Surveys of the planet had uncovered disturbing evidence that the idyllic dreams about the Kobol of an earlier time were just that–dreams. Evidence had been uncovered revealing a dark side to their ancestors. Human sacrifice, slavery, genocidal wars in the names of the gods, and uncontrolled brutality were parts of everyday life. Paradise, it was not. Carefully preserved and hidden away records were very specific about the events that occurred during the time of Pythia, who was burned at the stake for daring to proclaim the truth about what was happening and prophesize what would occur in the future.

Elosha was brought back to the present when she noticed Agasha nodding at the possibility of Lucy's theory.

"But there's other evidence that can't be ignored," the ambassador insisted. "The DNA data for one, and the tens of thousands of years recorded of the civilizations here. Granted, our own biological scientists have just begun their research on the plants and animals, or what remains of them on Kobol, but it will take years if not decades to determine the planet's biological family tree and how our people developed there. Here on Earth we have another thing to consider and that is the Goa'uld invasion that took place at _least_ six to eight thousand years ago. Those aliens spread mankind across the stars, reportedly from Earth. Miss Ferro, your theory is certainly plausible, but it's only a theory," Agasha allowed. "However, the fact that the goa'uld spread Earth people across the galaxy can't be ignored."

"Facts we can't yet confirm for ourselves," she countered. "In light of that, High Priestess and Supreme Mother Livia Sytomia has said that humanity's birthplace is Kobol and the scrolls speak the truth. Whatever the Terrans here believe, it is only a lie, or a deceit planted by the demons that invaded this world and deprived them of their history as a form of control…these poor, spiritually deprived people."

"Lucy, the scrolls didn't say that mankind arose on Kobol. That doesn't mean that we came from the stars either. There's a lot the Scared Scrolls don't tell us. We're missing a lot of whole truth, but you're saying that Livia's word is final?" asked an incredulous Elosha.

"She is the head of the College, our rightful spiritual leader and for good reason. We have to trust in her that she knows the truth and what is best for the people, all of the people. As she has said, Athena is a patient goddess and we must follow that example if we are to succeed in saving the people of Earth from their ignorance and sins."

"The High Priestess may be the head," Linus said quietly, "but we all have an equal voice here. We are a democracy, remember that? We're here because we choose to be here, no matter the reason. We won't be dictated to by someone sitting in a chair thousands of light years away having no idea what's happening and what we're going through here and now. Yes, I'm as shocked as the rest of you at what our ambassador has said, but I will examine at his evidence and not simply dismiss it because it may be an inconvenient truth."

"You're disrespecting our High priestess and our spiritual leader, Linus."

"I am not disrespecting her," he argued. "I am simply following the example of the gods, not blindly following the orders of our leaders, no offence, my lord Patrenus. I think I will go where the gods lead to wherever it may lead in this matter and if the truth we have isn't the whole truth then perhaps we'll find a little more of it here on Earth, strange as that may be, MS Soter."

Ursula looked on with pity at the ambassador and his wife as their religious leaders bickered among themselves. "Lucy, the scrolls are not the end all to everything. Most of the writing is considered a template as to how we should live, not follow blindly not matter the cost. Livia is my friend," nodded Ursula. "We've spent many years together discussing the scrolls and their significance. But we both acknowledged that there's much we don't know. The gods are cryptic entities and despite what you're assumed, we don't know what happened on Kobol or if they'd traveled to Earth before the exodus of our people to the Cyrannus system. You may be correct or, it might be argued that people from Earth journeyed to Kobol first."

"What!?"

Tyberi jumped in before Lucy could counter attack. "I confess that this conversation is most interesting and I have no doubt that this will be revisited later. Having said that, as a group, we must unite ourselves. This bickering serves no purpose. When we have a chance, we'll start looking at the evidence. But for now, we should strive to remember our purpose for being here and that purpose, need I remind us all, is to bring the light to the people here."

"No," Dodona said. "I must disagree here. You're wrong. I believe that that's now become our secondary mission. As the old Colonial saying goes, 'no plan escapes undamaged in battle'. Our plans must adapt to this new information coming to light. We must readjust our priorities."

"In what way?" asked Elosha before Tyberi could get in a word edgewise, leaving him embarrassed and frustrated.

"Let's learn something about these people first, starting by visiting their temples, seeing their museums, and studying their internet. As wonderful as they are we can't remain dependent on these translators. We need to learn the languages."

"At least one," Saltum said.

The Oracle nodded. "And their cultures, so that we can bring them into the light as our Father so graciously continues to proclaim. We can't help these people spiritually if we can't even talk to them. We need to live among them, talk to them, learn about their religions, learn about them and let them learn about us."

"No matter how distasteful," grumbled Lucy.

"Or how fascinating," continued Dodona without missing a beat, her eyes gazing intently at Lucy who in turned wondered whether the oracle has foreseen something about herself. Dodona quickly broke the eye contact and looked around at everyone. "We can't expect them to take us seriously if we can't listen to them in return. We need to go out and speak to these people as people not as some future member of our faith."

"You mean actually go out and live among these monotheists who by definition are dangerous blood thirsty killers?" Lucy asked. She shook her head. "Go right ahead. I will talk to them; however, I think it's dangerous to actually try and live among them and I, for one, won't do it."

"Why are you so hostile?" a surprised Luke asked.

"I'm not hostile," she protested. "I'm just cognitively aware. Look at all of us, the reason why we're here in the embassy," she said and then she added, "It's safe. They hate us. Pontiff Tyberi saw that first hand with that snotty kid and his disrespectful action."

"And _again_, you're here because?" prompted Luke. In return, the glare from Lucy was enough to melt his skin from his bones. "The Oracle is right. In a couple of days some of us might not even be able to get to the fresher by ourselves. Others, well, they may not even have any symptoms at all. Either way, I propose we settle down and talk about how we should adjust our priorities before we go out trying to save somebody. Besides, I need to know more about Ambassador Agasha's experiences here and the evidence that he seems so intent for us to see. And I have a thousand questions I would love answered. For example, how is the night life in this huge, dynamic, alien city? What is the average person like? Are their steaks the same as ours? And, have you ever visited one of the dozens of temples that crowd this city? What was it like?

The Ambassador's wife chuckled. "It's more like thousands of churches, or synagogues, or holy places, as they call them. Some are huge like those on Virgon and Caprica. For the truly monumental like on Gemenon, you'd have to go to Europe. Some are home-sized. They have temples here as well but they're not quite what we could call temples."

Ursula was surprised. "I didn't expect that. Why so many and how many do you believe are dedicated to the gods?"

Damari laughed. It was a bemused sound. "In this country, the belief of the one God is dominant. There's no question of that. There are other who believe in gods but not our gods. If you believe that this little adventure is going to be simple, let me dissuade you of that dream. Concerning religion, these people aren't naïve as some of you may think and you're in for a nightmare if you can't bend with the wind and open yourselves to new ideas."

"For example?" Elosha asked.

"Well," she said after a moment. "Here, as at home, many believe that the one God is a jealous God. But here in many parts of the world also believe that He or the spirit is a loving God and that when they pray it's a personal relationship."

"Like the Cylons' so-called 'God is love' dogma?" interrupted Lucy with a sneer.

Damari took a deep breath, mentally counting to ten to calm herself. "Somewhat. Although to say exactly what the Cylons believe past that original proclamation, is something that we may never know. Other than believing in the one God, no one knows the details except the Cylons and we can't ask them," she added meaningfully. "But back to the discussion about Earth. Another faction believes that the one God listens but demands obedience or He will punish their people–long story. Others believe that the one God only created man and waits around to judge you, so one must follow a set of rules and if you deviate from those rules, then you deserve death as punishment for defiling His will. And that answer is simplistic. According to our understanding and our research, the origin of the god of this third faction is not the same as the previous ones I mentioned despite some people assuming all three variations acknowledge the same god. However, these three factions represent the three main religions of the one God. Then there are many, many variations within each group." She shrugged. "It's complicated."

"And all of this is on their internet?" asked a wide-eyed Luke.

"More than you can imagine and it's free! But just reading isn't enough. We've also spoken to some of the religious leaders here in New York."

"Personally?" Lucy all but screamed. "Here, at this place?"

"I'm an ambassador," Saltum said drily. "That's what I do for a living," and again he wondered why this woman was here on Earth. But their presence still gave him comfort and he smiled. In spite of Lucy and her attitude, his other visitors were just beginning to truly understand how deep they'd stepped into it and he felt sorry for them. But he needed them to help him establish a solid relationship with the people of Earth. Anything to help keep the lines of communications opened. "In this country as in several others, they practice what is called freedom of religion. That means that anyone can believe what one wants as long as it doesn't infringe on the rights of others to worship the way they want."

"And that anarchy works?" asked a very curious Linus.

"After a fashion. It's a strange system, but it works. But I will say that there are many who hate it and continually try to force their will and beliefs upon others."

"And those who believe in this freedom of religion, how do they respond?" Nikko asked. "Do they wipe these offenders out?"

Agasha laughed. "Many want to, no doubt. In this country, they are usually dealt with legally. But in other countries, the people there are free to do as they please and unless their atrocities are too great for the world to ignore, or if these factions become a greater threat then they will be dealt with. Or at least," he continued, "that's the theory so I'm told. The people that live in those regions are not much different from the Sagittarons and Gemenese in attitude as well as in living conditions. There is a lot, I am sad to say, of repression by their religious and government leaders. I'm told that things are slowly changing but there are those who want to return to life as it was eight hundred to a thousand years ago in their belief that life was simpler and better. And they are trying to force many to return to that life with them whether they like it or not. Now, in this country and several others there is an article called the Separation of Church and State." At the confused looks he received he continued. "This means that the church stays out of government business and the government stays out of the business of the church, or in our case, the temple."

"I don't' understand," Linus said.

"Neither do I," added Ursula. "How can such a system possibly work? Why, Elosha here, was a delegate in the Quorum for twenty years before she retired—and, she has been a priestess all that time! Government is a product of the will of the gods. The Synod is the moral center of the people. It advises the Quorum and the People's Council on matters of religion. Without that center, the people wouldn't know the god's will for them. There would be anarchy."

Agasha nodded in agreement. "I asked them to explain it to me several times, but I couldn't fully understand how one could exist without the other. They have priests here as consultants but they have no legal standing or authority to impose any law or ruling on any government official. To me the temple and the government is and has always been intertwined. The people here, meaning this country and several others, believe that the church or religious leadership should not involve themselves in governmental matters and policy. Religion is considered a hindrance and has no business attempting to impose their beliefs and will on the government. But I must be clear here," Saltum continued. "Religion is important to their lives but it's not focused on like our people. It's hard to explain. We consider the gods in everything we do. The people here, the serious ones I've spoken to speak of a personal relationship with the One God. Again not all of the countries believe in the separation. But in the United States they do have this system and it works."

Lucy just shook her head in disgust. "Barbarians," she muttered.

"I'm sure we'll discuss this in detail but, I'm curious," Ursula said. "What did you and the priests talk about?"

"Our respective religions and a great many other things," he answered.

"These priests weren't angry at you because of your personal beliefs?" prompted Ursula.

"Surprisingly, no," he answered. "Remember the freedom of religion here? When I told them of my beliefs, they were curious even fascinated. But I also told them that you were coming here to bring the light to the people."

"How did they respond?" asked Elosha.

"It was a curious reaction. One of them a Father Constantine asked if there was a lot of missionary work performed in the Colonies. I answered honestly and told him no."

"And their reactions to you were?"

"A couple of them smiled. Father Constantine simply said, 'good luck'."

"Nice of them to say that," Lucy said thoughtfully. "I'm surprised they would be so considerate."

Tyberi clinched his fists and slowly started counting as he avoided looking at Lucy's face. Livia's wayward niece was fast shaping up to be unexpected and unwelcomed complication.

**_Lemuria_**

"A free floating city in the middle of the ocean," Adar spoke out loud.

It was simply a beautiful site. There was little doubt his people could have done the same feat if they had put their minds to it. But the Terrans _had_ done it and with the obvious addition of their infamous force shield, the city was protected from the fierce elements as well as sabotage and outright nuclear attacks. So it was little wonder that they chose his place for the summit. It bothered him however that the Earth people hadn't told them exactly why they had been invited to this summit in the first place. Earth hadn't been very forthcoming stating only that it would be in their best interests to come as observers of Earth and its allies. That alone was enough to get the Colonial's attention, literally being too enticing a morsel to pass up. Other officials on the Quorum believed that it was a subtle invitation to begin talks, laying the groundwork for a non-aggression treaty or even a subtle introduction to begin talks concerning possible trade agreements. As for Adar, he hoped for the best and secretly prayed that he hadn't come to witness to a signing of a declaration of war

Therefore, it was with a bit of trepidation that he stepped out of the ship and onto the platform serving as a landing port. There were dozens of people arriving by those strange shuttles as well as some more traditional ones. Like Cain, he found that interesting. Two types of technology were in evidence. The more traditional shuttles, as he called them, looked similar to the Raptor design with large engines but they also used antigrav systems that allowed said ships to land with barely a whisper. The men and women that exited those transports were some of the same people he'd seen on the resort. Many were strangely dressed (to his eyes) and their tonal inflections were unusual. Next to him Cain merely smiled and took in everything. Marthia had grasped her husband's hand in a death grip as he almost dragged her through the main doorway into a large control room. Cain followed behind him along with the rest of the arrivals.

Walking through those doors was an experience in itself. The entire atmosphere had changed the instant they passed through the threshold. First, it was warmer and the humidity was lower; the air even smelled different, not processed but somehow fresher than the air outside. But what caught his attention was the object in the middle of the room. It was a stargate.

Watching the device operate was magnificent. He'd only seen the one on Caprica in pictures and video but the device was unmistakable. However, didn't look like the one brought to Caprica and as he looked at Cain he saw that the Lead Admiral had noticed the same thing. This gate looked more refined, more stylish if that word could be used to describe it. Almost on cue, the gate activated lighting up as an announcer talking through loud speakers

_"Incoming wormhole. Force shield active."_

The inner circle began rotating and the entire device brightened as symbols on the gate, one after another, begin to glow with power. Inside the ring unimagined energy flashed a brilliant blue, looking like an ocean of water struggling to get out. Adar felt his body vibrate in tune with the gate's power although there was no vibration coming from the gate itself.

Cain's short grunt surprised Richard. The man never really showed much emotion when he was in observation mode, so this must have shocked him as much as the active gate had him.

"They have a shield protecting their gate," he whispered to Adar. "That's why the gate energy didn't rush outward like ours does. Good idea. We should devise something like that, maybe a heavy metal shield or something to that effect."

Adar nodded in affirmation. It _was_ a good idea. But the image was so awe-inspiring that he literally forgot that Marthia still had his hand. Here eye were wide as saucers and she was mouthing the words, "by the gods, by the gods!" over and over again. This was her first time seeing a stargate. Understandably, she had no idea that such a thing existed as it was one of the greatest secrets of the CDF. Only a few select people knew about the stargate now on Caprica and what its true purpose was.

There was a brief flash as the shield deactivated. Then people began walking out of the circle of blue energy. As the last person walked through, the gate deactivated and almost immediately, it began the cycle once again. More people exited the gate. By their looks, they had to be Jaffa. That was when Augustus Cain first saw the notorious General Jack O'Neill in the flesh. Listening intently but trying not to be obvious about it, he overheard some interesting information about the numbers of stargates that Earth had.

_There's more than one on Earth,_ he thought.

How was it possible to have a beta (and that meant that there an alpha) gate and have them work independently? And more importantly, why had O'Neill allowed him to _overhear_ said conversation?

* * *

><p>Adar held his breath again as the stargate activated once more, spewing forth more people. The sight was breathtaking but his wife's reaction was far more extreme. For a moment he thought his wife was about to faint, or would to sink to her knees and start praying in front of the gate. Augustus, not normally a religious man was himself silently praying to the gods that the woman hadn't humiliated the entire Twelve Colonies. So focused was he on Marthia he hadn't noticed anyone coming towards him.<p>

"Seeing that for the first time is always the best," said a voice from behind causing both men to jump slightly.

Cain recognized him, public enemy number three. "General O'Neill, I presume?"

"At your service, Lead Admiral Cain," O'Neill said. "President and Mrs. Adar. See anything you like?"

"A couple of things," Cain replied easily.

The two men, staring at one another as if they were old acquaintances shocked Richard Adar to his core because he knew better. To anyone else, this would be nothing more than a casual greetings between two people, but Richard could see the almost combative stance both men presented to each other. It was like watching two apex predators taking the others measure. One tiger, one lion, eyes gleaming, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

"You recognized us," Cain said easily, not surprised in the least. "I see your spy probes hiding in our system are doing their jobs."

"I can't complain," smirked the General not even trying to deny the facts. "Welcome to Lemuria. It's our little city in the sea, or ocean, whichever. It's a nice little secure getaway for vacations and private meetings."

"I can see that," agreed the Colonial Admiral. "Speaking of which, on behalf of the Colonies of Kobol, I thank you for inviting us here to Earth and to this magnificent city, but would you mind telling us why we're here?" asked the former president. "Your invitation was somewhat vague."

"And yet you came," the General observed.

"Your invitation was an offer we couldn't refuse," Richard Adar said. "Your people are a mystery to us and this is a golden opportunity to learn about our brethren."

"Well, I'm glad it's you and not Admiral Nagala. Personally, I would have loved to have had him arrested and charged with war crimes for authorizing the use of nuclear weapons over a civilian area." O'Neill clasped his hand in front of him. "You see, we like our cities non-radioactive."

Augusta's eyes went cold as he acknowledged the silent promise of Earth responding on a massive, probably planetary scale. "Those actions weren't sanctioned. One of our officers took it upon himself to use nuclear weapons on Earth. He was never authorized to attack Earth. The Quorum and Flagg staff on Picon weren't aware of the battle until a week after it was over. Besides, as you know, we're here under a flag of diplomatic immunity, something that both your world and our Articles of Colonization have in common. You wouldn't have touched Nagala if he were here instead of me."

"Hey, I can dream," O'Neill answered undeterred by the Admiral's terse response. "But I think you have problems of your own, besides us I mean. Apparently your officers didn't give you an accurate After Action Report," O'Neill corrected. "Captain Frank Cunningham was authorized by Admiral Nagala to launch high-yield nuclear weapons at Earth's cities. And just how do we know this, you may ask?" Now Jack's smile was predatory. "Well, we recorded every transmission by everyone. It took a little while to decode your old security protocols but we got everything. His actions weren't a defensive tactic. It's about as offensive as one gets."

Cain was stone-faced. Hades was coming to the CDF when he returned home. Vital information was omitted from the official reports presented to Command and the Quorum. Just as obvious was the fact that certain logs had been scrubbed.

"Now, as to why you're here. The Terran government wanted you here as non-participating observers of this summit between Earth and its allies. We wanted you to get a feel of the larger galaxy and exactly where you stand in it right now," he said jovially. But both men weren't fooled one bit. That smile had never reached his eyes and the unnamed threat was obvious. "Everything that you see here is what we are and it's _impossible_ to keep everything a secret. You see, we're proud of who and what we are. Most of our allies know what you're about to learn while you're here. Earth's always been independent and we will resist anyone's attempts to force us to submit. We've fought the Goa'uld, the Lucian Alliance, the Wraith, even the Vorlon incursion. We're kinda sensitive about military forces coming too close to our territories without permission. Your military forces have come a little too close for our comfort – more than once. So that made us a bit nervous, especially because of your tendencies to use nukes first and thinking about it later. We would have backed you off ourselves, but the Tollanians beat us to it. They were more aggressive than we liked but you can't deny the results. Anyway, as my ex used to say, we want to keep the lines of communications open. Their actions seems to have helped."

"I must agree with you," said a bitter Richard. "We do need to keep the lines of communication opened to avoid another such incident. But I have to say that your colony seems to be a violent faction of your population and it makes me wonder why you allowed them so much firepower if they're so willful a people"

"Wait, what colony?"

"Your colony, the Tollanians," Cain clarified.

"The Tollanians aren't a colony of Earth, never have been."

"So they're an independent entity?"

"Yep. And they've been so for at least two thousand years or more."

"So they're additional survivors of the lost tribe trying to reach Earth?" asked Marthia. The woman was regaining her composure much to her husband's and the Admiral's relief.

"No, Ma'am," O'Neill answered. "They're descendants of Earth. But you can find out more if you talk to them yourself."

She looked confused by O'Neill's answer. She couldn't understand how lost or abandoned travelers with the Thirteenth Colony wouldn't consider them fellow colonists.

"Well, now that I'm here," Adar began, "I will strive to make sure that we don't come to blows and we needn't go around trying to kill one other."

"Or blow each other up," O'Neill helpfully added.

Cain could feel the tension between them rising and tried to deflate it. "The Colonies of Kobol will not attempt to attack Earth or any of its properties or allies again. It's not in our interest to do so, not to mention the timing couldn't be worse. We know that there's a war looming and what we want is to reunite with the people of Earth to defend mankind. The Tollanians, the Jaffa and others united with us would be in everyone's best interests. The benefits would be enormous for all concerned. And we can't forget that we are all family."

"In theory that's true," the Terran said. "But you know, in reality it's a different story. Families don't necessarily get along." He thought about that for a second. "We even have an old saying about families getting together."

"And what saying is that, General?"

"It goes something like this. 'when it comes to family, reunions are a …'"

* * *

><p>(As you've read we are now where Chapter 25 of Worldwar: The Balance Destroyed left off...).<p>

Now some of you may ask what in heck have the Volorns to do with this? Well two things.

One remember that although this is in a RAAB related universe, this was always based on another one of Bob Regent's story.

Two, the story there was a part which was not done involving a very violent encounter between the Vorlons, Asgard with Earth in the middle. There was what one would call a conflict of interest between those powers (Order vs we could care less). But alas, that's a revelation for another time. Never to be mentioned again.

Next. More on the summit.


End file.
